Continuous foreign buying last week helped cushion the market fall on both the nation’s exchanges.
Onthe Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index lost a cumulative 2.38percent over the week, closing at 529.49 points on May 16, while theHNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange decreased 2.53 percent during theperiod, ending the day at 72.31 points.
Pessimistic marketoutlook prompted many investors to offload shares while securitiescompanies also sold shares pledged as collateral to curtail losses.
Large-capstocks bore the maximum brunt as most blue chips on both the exchangesplummeted. They were PV Gas (GAS), Vinamilk (VNM), Bao Viet Holdings(BVH), VinGroup (VIC), Vietcombank (VCB) and BIDV Bank (BID) on the HoChi Minh City market; Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB), Kim Long Securities(KLS), PetroVietnam Construction (PVX), Vinaconex (VCG) and AsiaCommercial Bank (ACB) on the Hanoi bourse.
However, low share prices also attracted plentiful bargains, which pushed the trading volumes up on both the exchanges.
Thedaily trading volume on the Ho Chi Minh City Exchange rose 7.6 percentas compared to the previous week, reaching 104.5 million shares worthover 1.55 trillion VND (73.5 million USD), while the volume on the Hanoimarket also increased 8.8 percent, averaging 61.6 million shares, worth503.5 million VND (23.9 million USD).
Foreign investors bought anet value of 1.133 trillion VND (53.7 million USD) worth of shares onthe Ho Chi Minh City Exchange during the week, focusing on blue chips,such as Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG), PetroVietnam Drilling and WellServices (PVD), and Hoa Phat Group (HPG).
Foreign investors werealso net buyers on the Hanoi bourse, picking up shares worth a combinedtotal of 215.1 billion VND (10.2 million USD).-VNA