Stocks recover on global moves

Hanoi (VNA) - Shares recovered on the two local markets on April 26 after gloomy trading sessions as investor confidence was picked up by positive moves in global markets.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange gained 0.35 percent to close at 710.04 points. Vietnam’s key index had lost total 1.3 percent in the previous four sessions.

The smaller HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange rose 0.79 percent to end at 88.55 points, putting an end to a two-day decline of 1.1 percent.

More than 194.3 million shares were traded on the two local bourses, worth 4.02 trillion VND (178.9 million USD).

Market trading volume increased slightly from April 25 while market trading value rose 5.4 percent.

Companies in 17 of the 20 sectors in the Vietnamese stock market saw their share prices increase. Two-thirds of the stocks in the VN30 Index, which tracks the performance of the 30 largest companies by market capitalisation, advanced.

The industries with the best growth included banks, brokerage firms, energy producers, construction companies and agriculture businesses.

In the banking sector, MBBank (MBB) increased by 1 percent and Sacombank (STB) was the strongest gainer, hitting its daily trading limit of 6.8 percent.

MBBank on April 26 announced at its annual shareholder meeting that its first-quarter pre-tax profit was estimated at 1.05 trillion VND, a yearly increase of 22 percent, and the bank targeted a pre-tax profit for 2017 of 4.5 trillion VND.

The brokerage sector was driven up by Sai Gon-Hanoi Securities (SHS), Sai Gon Securities (SSI), MB Securities (MBS) and HCM City Securities (HCM).

Among those companies, SHS on April 26 organised its annual shareholder meeting, in which it targeted a 42 percent increase in pre-tax profit for 2017 and paying an 8 percent dividend for last year’s performance.

The energy sector was boosted by an increase of global oil prices on Tuesday. Brent crude ended Tuesday trading at 52.1 USD a barrel, up 1 percent from the previous session.

The stock market had the most positive session so far this week along with increased trading liquidity, BIDV Securities (BSC) said in a report.

With the VN Index topping 710 points, investor confidence would be bolstered, despite the market lacking supportive information, BSC said.-VNA