The benchmark indiceswent in opposite directions on both national exchanges last week, as themarket witnessed an improved liquidity after some exchange-traded funds(ETFs) completed restructuring of their investment lists.
On the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index closed the week0.3 percent lower at 504.45 points, while the HNX-Index on the northernbourse gained 1.9 percent to 67.5 points.
Accordingto Vietstock.vn, the restructuring of the investment lists of two ETFsdid not have a large impact on the market last week. However, investorsshowed caution, which resulted in low liquidity levels during the startof the trading week.
The domestic petrol price hikeon December 18 did not seem to affect the market significantly, andliquidity improved on the last two trading days of the week as the ETFscompleted their restructuring.
On the northernbourse, the trading volume averaged 90.411 million shares, with anaverage trading value of 1.473 trillion VND (70.14 million USD).
The trading value reached a high level on Friday, as 142.42 millionshares were traded at a total value of 3.03 trillion VND (144.7 millionUSD), which is twice the average of the bourse's weekly trading value.
The VN-Index managed to increase on Tuesday andThursday, but the increases failed to support the benchmark index toclose higher at the end of the week.
On the northernbourse, an upward trend was maintained until Thursday, but the trendreversed on December 20. An average of 316.628 million shares changedhands, while average trading value was 483.07 billion VND (23 millionUSD).
During the past trading week, there were signsof recovery in speculative stocks from the real estate and constructionsectors, such as the FLC Group (FLC), An Duong Thao Dien Real Estate(HAR), Viet-Han Corporation (VHG), Petroland (PTL) and Hoang Quan RealEstate (HQC). These stocks witnessed strong increases during the weekand attracted cash investments from investors.
Foreign investors took turns at being net sellers and net buyers duringthe past week. On December 20, in particular, foreign investors becamenet buyers of shares valued at 735.5 billion VND (35.02 million USD), inparticular, strongly buying shares of Vinacafe Bien Hoa (VCF).
HCM City-listed real estate giant Vingroup (VIC) lost up to 7 percentlast week. According to Vietstock Finance, the decline was due to thenet selling of a total of 63.8 billion VND (3.038 million USD) byforeign investors as a result of the ETFs' restructuring.
According to FPT Securities, the restructuring of the ETFs generatedstrong selling pressure for bluechips on December 20, causing thebenchmark indices to decline on both the national stock exchanges.
Real estate sector stocks were in the limelight last week, accordingto Bao Viet Securities, which noted there were no signs, however, thatthe trend would continue over the long term. It added that opportunitiesonly existed for real estate companies that successfully implementeddebt restructuring schemes.
Bao Viet Securities alsoforecast that stocks of gas companies and securities firms would bepotential leaders of the next wave of stock gains.
The US Federal Reserve's move to taper its stimulus package by 10billion USD a month to 75 billion USD is forecast to benefit Vietnam'seconomy in the long term since it is a large trading partner in general,and the stock market, in particular, through foreign capital inflows,according to stock analysts.-VNA
