Finance stocks push the VN-Index upwards

An investor walks by the electronic boards at Tan Viet Securities Co in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - Shares cooled down a little on January 26 on the HCM Stock Exchange after a “crazy” session on January 25, backed by strong growth of finance stocks.

The benchmark VN-Index ended up 1 percent at 1,115.64, a second rally after a two-day shutdown due to the technical crash on January 22’s afternoon trade. The southern market index gained nearly 5 percent in three sessions this week.

Liquidity declined steeply on HCM City’s exchange but remained at high levels, totaling 293 million shares worth 9.3 trillion VND (roughly 408 million USD), down 43 percent in volume and 35 percent in value compared to January 25.

Banking stocks continued to perform well but at a slower pace. Six of eight listed lenders rallied while only two (VPBank and HDBank) ended in the negative.

BIDV (BID) hit the daily rise limit of 7 percent, followed by Military Bank (MBB) - up over 6 percent. The two biggest banks by market value – Vietcombank (VCB) and Vietinbank (CTG)- increased by 2 percent each.

“We think it is difficult to pick banking stocks based only on their fundamental valuation. However, if we look at other aspects including the capital movement, we believe banking stocks are still a good choice,” said Son Tran, a stock analyst at Viet Dragon Securities Co.

In a market review on January 26, Son forecast the correction in the banking group will not be severe.

Brokerage stocks were also good choice considering the relentlessly increasing market, he said, noting HCM Securities Co (HCM) also rose by the maximum 7 percent.

Brokerage firms are divided into two groups with the first including big companies such as Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), HCM, Viet Capital Securities (VCI) and VNDirect Securities (VND). The second group, called ‘emerging’ players, includes Sai Gon-Hanoi Securities (SHS), Bao Viet Securities (BVS), Viet Dragon Securities (VDS), FPT Securities (FTS) and MB Securities (MBS).

“Depending on preferences, investors can choose between famous companies and high potential mid-small groups,” Son said.

Shares also closed higher on the Hanoi Stock Exchange on January 26 with the HNX-Index edging up 0.16 percent at 126.82 points. The northern market index increased 3.6 percent in five sessions this week.

Nearly 74 million shares worth 1.24 trillion VND (54.4 million USD) were traded, down 27 percent in both trading volume and value compared with January 25’s levels.-VNA