Shares mixed on profit-taking pressure
Hanoi (VNA) – Shares extended gains on the HCM Stock Exchange on May 4 but corrected down on the Hanoi Stock Exchange given stronger profit-taking pressure.
In HCM City, the benchmark VN-Index added 0.34 percent to close at 722.02
points. The Index gained over 2 percent in the last five sessions and has
expanded 8.6 percent this year.
On the Hanoi bourse, the HNX-Index sank for the
first time in the last four trades, edging down 0.33 percent to end at 89.52
points. The northern market index has climbed 11.7 percent since December 30,
2016.
Banks continued to be the major support for the
market.
Five of nine listed banks on the two main
exchanges advanced and only two declined.
Sacombank (STB) was the biggest gainer, up 4.3
percent, after the bank reported its pre-tax profits increasing 50 percent
year-on-year in the first quarter.
The three largest lenders – BIDV (BID), Vietcombank (VCB) and Vietinbank (CTG)
– grew between 1.2-2.3 percent each. Profits of these banks all surpassed 2
trillion VND (88 million USD) in the first three months of this year.
Many large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket which tracks the top 30 shares by
market value and liquidity on the HCM Stock Exchange also advanced on
information of high dividend payment, such as Vinamilk (VNM), steelmakers Hoa
Phat Group and Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and food
producer Kido Group (KDC).
On the defensive side, some blue chips remained
in a downward cycle including real estate developers VinGroup (VIC) and
Novaland Investment Group (NVL), brewery Sabeco (SAB), food producer Masan
Group (MSN), PetroVietnam Drillings and Well Service (PVD) and PetroVietnam
Technical Services (PVS).
“After five straight sessions of rallying, the VN30 Index is approaching the
strong resistance at 685-690, the boundary deciding whether the VN-Index
surpasses medium-term peak at 720”, stock analyst Tran Duc Anh at Bao Viet
Securities Co wrote in the May 4 market report.
Anh maintained a cautious view on market outlook
and suggests investors make short-term trading or reduce stock exposure below
the moderate level.
Trading volume decreased slightly on May 4, totaling nearly 268 million shares
worth a combined 5.2 trillion VND (229 million USD) in the two markets. These
figures were still 24.4 percent and 22.4 percent higher than the average daily
trading volume and value of last week.
Foreign investors returned as net buyers in HCM City’s market on May 4 for a modest
net value of 55 billion VND while they extended their net buying streak to four
sessions in a row with a net value of 3.8 billion VND, up 160 percent over May
3’s value on Hanoi’s exchange.-VNA