Shares up on investor confidence

Hanoi (VNA) - Shares rose on February 27 on the two exchanges despite expert forecasts of a slight correction in early sessions this week as investors remained positive over market outlook.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged up 0.42 percent to close at 717.44 points. The southern index decreased 0.4 percent in the last two sessions.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was up 0.63 percent to end February 27’s trade at 86.86 points, following last week’s gain of 0.5 percent.

The overall market condition was positive with 258 stocks rising, 216 declining and 228 remaining flat on the two exchanges.

A total of 243.5 million shares, worth a combined 3.8 trillion VND (167 million USD), were traded on the two markets, up over 10 percent in volume and slightly lower in value compared to last week’s average figures.

“Selling pressure on the market reduced significantly from the previous two sessions and market sentiment remained positive,” Tran Duc Anh, a stock analyst at Bao Viet Securities Co, wrote in a market report on February 27.

Anh said investors were willing to buy when the indices signaled a retreat.
Their buys focused on large-cap stocks such as VinGroup (VIC), PV Gas (GAS), Vietinbank (CTG), Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID) and FPT Corp (FPT).
Eighteen of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity on the main bourse in HCM City advanced while eleven slumped.

Apart from blue chips, investors continued to bet on property stocks on high hopes for the real estate sector this year.

Van Phat Hung Corp (VPH) hit the daily limit rise of 7 percent for three consecutive sessions and lifted its winning run to six days in a row. Others including Novaland Investment (NVL), Kinh Bac City Development (KBC), Tan Tao Investment Industry (ITA), FLC Group (FLC) and Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate (HQC) increased between 1 and 4 percent.

Property inventories decreased to nearly 30 trillion VND (1.2 billion USD) as of February 20, down 4.7 percent from December last year and a decrease of nearly 77 per cent from their peak in the first quarter of 2013.

According to Bao Viet Securities Co, the domestic real estate market will see divergence and fierce competition in every segment. While high-end products have large supply and high risks, low-end medium-cost products have relatively high demand but limited supply.-VNA