VN-Index down, Petrolimex debuts hinh anh 1The B12 petrol terminal of the Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) in the northern province of Quang Ninh (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index closed down on April 21, erasing its early gain as large-cap shares were sent lower by strong investor selling.

The key index on the HCM Stock Exchange finished at 712.41 points, slightly lower than the previous closing level. It fell 0.6 percent on April 20.

The major stock exchange on April 21 recorded an all-time trading value with 6.5 trillion VND (289.1 million USD) worth of more than 202 million shares exchanged.

The significant rise in trading value was attributed to the negotiation-based transaction for 60 million shares of consumer goods producer Masan Group (MSN), worth 2.52 trillion VND.

Stocks on the southern bourse had a mixed performance with the number of gainers balancing the number of losers.

The VN30 Index, tracking the 30 largest companies by market capitalisation, saw 13 declining stocks against 11 increasing ones.

Worst decliners included Vietinbank (CTG), Binh Minh Plastic (BMP), PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemicals (DPM), dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM) and Sacombank (STB).

Energy stocks were down on the volatile global oil prices. Brent crude was bumpy and trade at 52.99 USD a barrel, equal to April 20’s closing price.

On the opposite side, the southern bourse was supported by some firms such as property developer Novaland (NVL) and HCM City Securities (HCM).

Among those companies, Novaland’s shares gained 2.4 percent after its chairman Bui Thanh Nhon registered to buy more than 19.5 million shares of Novaland within one month from April 24.

HCM City Securities (HCM) inched up 0.2 percent after the company announced its first-quarter post-tax profit reached 95 billion VND, up 47 percent from last year’s first quarter.

The HCM Stock Exchange on April 21 also saw the debut of the Vietnam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) under code PLX with the listing of nearly 1.3 billion shares at the opening price of 43,200 VND per share.

With the debut, Petrolimex became one of the 10 largest companies in the stock market. The company’s shares jumped 13.2 percent on April 21.

Investor confidence helped keep the VN-Index positive during most of the time on April 21 due to increasing earnings reported by listed firms and the listing of Petrolimex, BIDV Securities (BSC) said in a note.

However, the benchmark index lost its momentum and ended slightly down as investors were still cautious over potential global risks, the broker said.

In the current market condition, if the VN Index accumulates at the level of 710 points next week, the stock market will rise, BSC said.

The HNX-Index on the minor Hanoi Stock Exchange gained 0.46 percent to finish at 88.87 points. The northern market index had dropped 0.7 percent in total in the previous two days.-VNA
VNA