Market rebounds on large-caps

Hanoi (VNA) – Shares rebounded on August 14 after four consecutive downturns on the two national stock exchanges last week, boosted by recovery of large-cap stocks.

The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange picked up 0.53 percent to close at 776.17 points. The benchmark index slipped 2.64 percent in the last four sessions.

Only four of the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the southern exchange tumbled, while 22 advanced.

Capital was channeled into various sectors, including banks, steel and pharmaceutical firms, construction and real estate.

Banks were among the biggest gainers with five of listed lenders gaining value; four of the largest banks by market value – Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), BIDV (BID) and Military Bank (MBB) – increased between 0.5 percent and 3.6 percent.

Advancers also included steelmakers Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG), DHG Pharmaceutical (DHG), Kinh Bac City Development (KBC), FLC Faros Construction (ROS), HCM Infrastructure Investment (CII) and PV Gas (GAS).

On the negative side, the two biggest firms food and beverage industry firms, Vinamilk (VNM) and Sabeco (SAB), slumped and restrained the market rise.

“However, the VN30-Index increasing further than the VN-Index indicated investors’ tendency to increase their portfolio proportion of the large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket,” analysts at BIDV Securities Co (BSC) wrote in their daily report.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the performance of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity on the HCM Stock Exchange, edged up 0.86 percent at 751.39 points.

Market liquidity remained low, pointing to conservative sentiment in the market, BSC’s analysts said.

[Stock market sees 23 firms with over 1 billion USD]

Over 185.5 million shares worth 3.45 trillion VND (152 million USD) were traded in the southern market on August 14, down 17.3 percent in volume and 14.2 percent in value compared to last week’s daily average volume and value.

BSC forecast that the market would move up and fluctuate around the 780 points in the next session.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index increased 0.64 percent to end at 101.5 points, recouping part of a 1.52 per cent loss in the last four sessions.

Nearly 54 million shares worth 491 billion VND were exchanged on the northern market.

Foreign investors remained net buyers on the HCM City’s exchange for three consecutive trades but their net buy value decreased 35.6 percent to just 60 billion VND. Their buys continued focusing on blue chips, such as Hoa Phat Group, DHG Pharmaceutical and Vinamilk.

However, they extended their net selling activities on the Hanoi market for a value of 5.4 billion VND, up 57.6 percent over the previous session.-VNA