Shares mixed, market cap hits 74.6 percent of GDP

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Shares concluded the week in opposite directions on the two stock exchanges on December 22 as investor confidence weakened on an unstable market outlook.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index advanced 0.66 percent to close at 952.32 points. The southern market index decreased 0.8 percent on December 21.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange declined for a second straight day, down 0.47 percent to end at 113.03 points.

The northern market index lost 0.8 percent in the last two sessions.

Large-cap stocks continued to diverge with 18 of the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on HCM City’s bourse (VN30) gaining value while 11 fell.

Vietcombank (VCB) and VinGroup (VIC) were the two biggest gainers which largely contributed to the market’s rally on December 22. VCB rallied 4.74 percent and VIC increased 3.6 percent. They are two of the top 10 biggest listed stocks by market value.

Other supporters included PV Gas (GAS), IT group FPT (FPT), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), brewer Sabeco (SAB) and Mobile World Group (MWG) with growth of 0.8-2.3 percent.

Total trading volume continued to drop, reaching 249 million shares on the two exchanges, down 12.3 percent from December 21’s level, but value of trades shot up, touching 8.7 trillion VND (381.6 million USD), a rise of 22.5 percent over the previous session.

The higher number of declining stocks (compared to gaining stocks), accompanied by recent decreased trading volume has led to rising caution among investors, according to analysts at BIDV Securities Company (BSC).

Trade focused on large caps, with the trading value on the VN30 accounting for over 75 percent of total trading value on HCM City’s exchange.

“We forecast the market will continue to accumulate around 950 points, so investors can spend time looking for opportunities in good fundamental stocks with strong results in the fourth quarter of 2017,” BSC’s analysts wrote in a report on December 22.

The VN-Index has moved around 950 points throughout this week, a rise compared to the 935 points since December 15 but a decrease from the 10-year high of 970 points recorded on December 4.

Market capitalisation reaches 74.6 percent of GDP.

Vietnam’s stock market capitalisation hit 3.36 quadrillion VND (147.4 billion USD) in 2017, up 73 percent from the end of 2016, and equivalent to 74.6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). This number has surpassed the target (market cap to GDP ratio) set for 2020.

This result was announced by Pham Hong Son, vice chairman of the State Securities Commission at the yearly review meeting on December 21.

Liquidity has improved sharply with average trading value reaching almost 5 trillion VND per session, a yearly increase of 63 per cent.

The bond market has become more active with total listing value touching over 1 trillion VND, up 8 percent over 2016-end and equal to 23 percent of GDP. The average trading value was 8.9 trillion VND per session, up 38 percent year-on-year.

The derivative market, which officially came into operation in August this year, has attracted investors with total trading volume reaching over 946,300 contracts and 15,800 trading accounts, a two-fold increase compared to the end of August.-VNA