VN-Index rebounds, led by real estate

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Shares rebounded slightly on the HCM Stock Exchange after a bearish session on August 30, propped up by strong growth of real estate and steel stocks.

The benchmark VN-Index regained all of August 29’s losses with a rise of 0.6 percent at the close of 778.65 points. The southern market index edged down 0.42 percent in the previous session.

Many heavyweight stocks recovered on August 30, including industry-leading companies in sectors of real estate, steel manufacturing, retail and food-beverage.

VinGroup, the biggest listed realty firm by market value and assets, perked up 6.84 percent and settled at 49,200 VND (2.17 USD) a share. The company on August 30 reported its net profit after audit soared to almost 1.65 trillion VND in the first half of this year, a 6.8-fold increase over the old figure of just 244 billion VND.

Its consolidated net profits (total profits made by all companies belonging to the group) also increased by 251.2 billion VND to 1.86 trillion VND. The company explained such a sharp rise mainly came from an increase in financial incomes including additional dividends receiving from its subsidiaries.

Foreign investors on August 30 bought a net value of nearly 39 billion USD worth of VinGroup’s shares, making it the most purchased share by foreign traders by value.

Apart from VinGroup, other firms such as Masan Group, Vinamilk, brewery Sabeco, IT giant FPT Corp, mobile device retailer Mobile World Group, steelmakers Hoa Phat Group and Hoa Sen Group also advanced and supported the market.

On the defensive side, some large-cap stocks still sank in the red and weighed on the VN-Index, including banks such as BIDV, Vietinbank, Sacombank, insurer Bao Viet Holdings, petrol retailer Petrolimex and PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service Corp.

[Infographics: Vietnam's stock market in first 7 months of 2017]

Meanwhile, speculative stocks were under high selling pressure. Real estate FLC Group, Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate JSC, HAI Agrochem and financial services Ocean Group still led the market by the trading volume but their share prices tumbled between 3-7 percent each.

According to BIDV Securities Co, liquidity declined along with the trend of cash flow focusing on individual stocks which could cause unsustainable market growth.

“The VN-Index may rise again in the coming sessions but the medium-term correction trend has not ended, especially in the context of a lack of support information in the current period,” the company said in a note.

The HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange fell 0.18 percent to close at 103.34 points, extending its fall to total 0.5 percent after the last two sessions.

A total of 243.3 million shares worth nearly 4.1 trillion VND (179.4 million USD) were traded in the two markets on August 30, down 22.6 percent in volume and 16.3 percent in value compared to the previous session’s figures.-VNA