Investors hunt mid, small-cap shares

Shares closed almost unchanged on September 25 on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange despite trading in the negative zone for most of the time. Mid-cap and small-cap stocks were the main support.

The benchmark VN-Index closed at 570.4 points, up 0.02 per cent from the previous session’s level. Advancers outnumbered decliners by 114-95 and 73 ended unchanged.

While blue chips lost steam, mid-cap and small-cap stocks increased, cushioning the market fall.

The VN30 which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity was down 0.22 percent, but the VNMid Index and VNSmall Index advanced 0.74 percent and 0.31 percent, respectively.

"Money seemed to flow in realty stocks and has spread to many medium and small-cap shares to seek opportunities, particularly in the context of outlook uncertainty," analysts at VNDirect Securities Co wrote in a report.

Half of the top 10 most active stocks yesterday were mid- and small-cap stocks, including Hoang Huy Investment Services (HHS), Quang Nam Rubber Investment (VHG), F.I.T Investment (FIT), Dat Xanh Real Estate Service & Construction (DXG) and Bac Giang Exploitable Mineral (BGM). Each stock saw trades of 1.5-3 million shares.

However, liquidity remained low with just 79 million shares worth 1.88 trillion VND (83.6 million USD) being traded by the end of the session. These figures were down 26 percent in volume but up 18 percent in value compared with the previous day's levels.

HCM City Infrastructure Investment (CII) was the most active with almost 3.2 million shares, but its price dropped 1.3 percent to end at 23,300 VND a share.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index climbed for an eighth day, adding another 0.1 percent to 78.7 points. It has risen 2.7 percent in the past eight days.

Overall market condition was not good, however, as the losers outnumbered the gainers by 89-78 while other 194 closed unchanged.

The rally of some key large-cap stocks, such asa Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Port of Hai Phong (PHP) and An Phat Plastic & Green Environment (AAA) propped up the exchange.

PHP hit the daily rising limit of 10 percent while AAA rose 4 percent and ACB increased 1 percent.

Liquidity dropped yesterday as both trading volume and value were down 31 percent, totalling almost 29 million shares worth 343.2 billion VND (15.3 million USD).

KLF Joint Venture Global Investment (KLF) remained the most active stock here with 2.7 million shares, closing unchanged at 4,500 VND a share.

Foreign investors extended their net selling streak to six days in a row, unwinding shares worth 263.3 billion VND (11.7 million USD) in the two markets. They were responsible for a total net sell value of 789 billion VND (35.1 million USD) in the past six days.-VNA