Shares end mixed on week’s last trading session

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese shares ended with mixed results on September 9, the week’s last trading session, as investors increased selling to take profits from stock gains made in the early session.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange closed at 666.88 points, up only 0.1 percent from the previous day. The southern market index has gained 0.8 percent in the last two sessions.

The HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange retreated 0.3 percent from the previous gain to finish at 84.47 points.

“The last trading session of the week opened with strong gains in large-cap stocks such as dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), however, it was investors selling in those stocks for intraday profits that swept out the market’s early gains,” Maritime Securities Inc (MSI) wrote in its daily report.

VNM ended down 2.7 percent after adding 0.7 percent in the early half session. Foreign selling continued to weigh on the giant dairy firm, which is the largest stock by market capitalisation.

Nearly 1.6 million shares of Vinamilk were sold by foreign investors while the company’s total shares in trading were only 1.7 million shares.

Energy stocks like PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corp (PVD) and PetroVietnam Coating Corp (PVB) rose at a slow pace as crude prices retreated on global trading because of profit-taking.

On the opposite side, Vietcombank (VCB) and property developer Vingroup JSC (VIC) helped the market avoid further loss.

VCB jumped 5.5 percent while VIC rose 2.1 percent to extend a two-day increase of 2.7 percent.

The same day, the central bank suddenly raised its daily reference mid-point rate by 18 VND to 21,932 VND for a US dollar. Nearly 151.6 million shares were exchanged on September 9 worth nearly 3.3 trillion VND (146.2 million USD), down 10 percent from the previous day’s trading value.-VNA