The VN-Index plunged by 3.5 percent on May 23 to close at 417.82points, a spine-chilling slide of 15 points and the lowest level of theIndex in the past two years, raising alarm bells about ongoing sluggishtrades on the HCM Stock Exchange.
Trang An Securities Co analyst Ngo Minh Duc pointed the finger atinterest rates, with rates as high as 22 percent per year for loans tobusiness in non-manufacturing sectors.
"As interest rates rise, investors begin to sell off non-manufacturing assets," Duc said.
Losers outnumbered gainers during the day's session by 206-34, with 111 codes dropping to their floor prices.
Thevalue of trades saw a modest, 7-percent uptick, however, reaching 629billion VND (30 million USD) on a volume of 32 million shares – a20-percent increase in volume over the previous session on May 20.
The10 leading shares by capitalisation mostly weighed on the Index, withsix codes bottoming out, including insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH),Vietinbank (CTG), software giant FPT (FPT), finance group Hoang Anh GiaLai (HAG), food producer Masan Group (MSN) and PetroVietnam Finance(PVF).
Phu My Fertilisers (DPM) and real estate developer Vincom(VIC) both fell by around 2 percent, while only Eximbank (EIB) andSacombank (STB) closed flat.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, theHNX-Index also plummeted, shedding 3.2 percent of its value to close atjust 74.5 points. The value of trades rose by 13 percent over May 20,however, to 355 billion VND (17 million USD), with 31 million shareschanging hands.
Foreign investors continued as net sellers in HCMCity and net buyers in Hanoi on May 23. On the southern bourse, theysold 3.7 million shares worth 135 billion VND (6.6 million USD), whilethey bought a net of just 2.8 billion VND (136,600 USD) worth of sharesin Hanoi./.