Business

Investor caution takes its toll on southern bourse

Shares lost in Ho Chi Minh City on December 18, while maintaining an upward trend in Hanoi as investors remained cautious over the market.
Shares lost in Ho Chi Minh City on December 18, while maintaining anupward trend in Hanoi as investors remained cautious over the market.

On the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index slightly decreased by 0.08 percent to 505.25 points.

Investors remained cautious, however, as selling pressures remained strong during the morning session.

More than 62.33 million shares changed hands, with a total value of 915.56 billion VND (43.59 million USD).

The VN30-Index, tracking the southern city's top shares bycapitalisation and liquidity, gained a modest 0.06 percent to reach566.27 points, although losers outnumbered gainers by 13-9.

Also, blue chips were not active enough to support the benchmarkindex. Vinamilk (VNM) lost 1,000 VND (0.047 USD) to finish at 138,000VND (6.5 USD) per share and Kinh Do (KDC) lost 500 VND (0.023 USD) to51,000 VND (2.4 USD) per share.

Other losersincluded insurance company Bao Viet Group (BVH), Vietinbank (CTG), MBBank (MBB), Ocean Group (OGC) and Vinh Son Song Hinh ThermoelectricPlant (VSH), as all lost 100 VND (0.0047 USD) per share.

The VN30-Index received support from the gains of real estate giantVingroup (VIC), PetroVietnam Drilling (PVD), PetroVietnam Fertilisersand Chemicals (DPM), Gemardebt (GMD), FPT Group (FPT), Ree Corporation(REE) and Vietcombank (VCB).

Overall, 94 stocks managed to increase, in comparison to 113 decliners.

According to FPT Securities, the dreary transaction on December 18 wasdue to investors being impacted by information that the State Bank ofVietnam would not extend the deadline to apply the Circular02/2013/TT-NHNN about asset classification and extraction for riskprevention.

On the Hanoi Exchange, the benchmark index maintained its upward trend, as liquidity eased.

The HNX-Index advanced 0.12 percent to 66.95 points, and theHNXFF-Index, composed of stocks with a minimum free-float rate of 5percent, lost 0.03 percent to 66.99 points.

Thetotal value reached 219.35 billion VND (10.44 million USD) on theexchange of 32.8 million shares. The HNX30-Index of the capital city's30 largest shares gained 0.32 percent to 127.16 points.-VNA
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