Bank and energy stocks slump hinh anh 1Investors trace auction results at Hanoi Stock Exchange (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Shares were mixed on July 4 on the two stock exchanges as traders shifted investments to small- and medium-cap stocks.

The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange was down 0.43 percent to close at 775.54 points. The key gauge ticked up 0.3 percent on July 3.

Large-cap stocks slumped with the VN30 tracking the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity being down 0.25 percent at 763.92 points.

Banks and energy firms led the downturn.

All six listed lenders on the HCM City’s bourse lost value of between 0.5-2.9 percent. The three biggest listed banks – Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG) and BIDV (BID) – decreased 0.5 percent, 1.5 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

In the energy sector, PV Gas (GAS) and Petrolimex (PLX), the two largest listed firms by market value, sank 1.74 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

GAS increased 4 per cent in the last two trades while PLX extended losses to three consecutive sessions.

Global oil prices have maintained an uptrend in recent trades. Brent crude futures rose 1.9 percent on Monday after posting a weekly gain of 5.2 percent last week. Meanwhile, US crude futures closed up 2.2 percent to reach nearly one-month high.

[UPCoM tightens control over listed companies]

Other losers included dairy giant Vinamilk (VNM), real estate developer VinGroup (VIC), private equity firm Masan Group (MSN), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and DHG Pharmaceutical (DHG).

"Short-term profit selling occurred in the banking sector and in a number of large-cap stocks which have gained substantially in the previous rallies and that put heavy pressure on the market,” stock analysts at BIDV Securities Co wrote in a note.

The VN-Index expanded 1 percent last week and has gained 5.2 percent in June.

They noted investments tended to shift to small- and medium-cap stocks and the ones with solid backgrounds and in the low price range.

Gainers on the day included Ocean Group (OGC), Tan Tao Investment and Industry (ITA), Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate (HQC), Duc Long Gia Lai Group (DLG) and HAI Agrochem (HAI). They were the most active stocks on the HCM Stock Exchange with 6-23 million shares traded in each code.

On the Hanoi exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.15 percent to end at 100.48 points. The northern market index increased 1.2 percent in the last session.

A total of 299.3 million shares worth a combined 4.14 trillion VND (182.4 million USD) were traded in the two exchanges, up 12.8 percent in volume but down 10 percent in value compared with July 3’s numbers.

Foreign investors decreased their buys in the two markets, picking up shares worth a total net buy value of 37 billion VND on the two exchanges, down 65 percent in value from the previous session.-VNA

VNA