Vietnam’s upbeat economic results in 2017 as well as bright prospects for 2018 are likely to support local stock market development in the medium term, analysts say (Photo: tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - Stocks on the nationalexchanges are expected to rise further in the last week of 2017, boosted bypositive macro economic development and foreign traders.
Thebenchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange recovered from twodeclining weeks, gaining 1.83 percent last week to close at 952.32 points on December22.
On the HanoiStock Exchange, the HNX-Index increased 1.28 percent after five sessions lastweek, ending Friday at 113.03 points.
Liquiditydeclined slightly from the previous session, averaging 242.3 million sharesworth 5.4 trillion VND (237 million USD) being traded through order matchingper session on the two exchanges.
Accordingto Le Duc Khanh, deputy director at PetroVietnam Securities Inc’s analysisdivision, Vietnam’s upbeat economic results in 2017 as well as bright prospectsfor 2018 will continue to be a major supporting factor for the local stockmarkets in the medium term.
Vietnam’sGDP is forecast to meet its annual target of 6.7 percent by the year-end afterrecording a sharp increase of 7.4 percent in the third quarter. The Governmentwill retain the target for 2018, including inflation of below 4 percent.
Strongforeign capital inflows as well as high credit expansion (about 18 percent in2018) are expected to continue supporting market expansion, Khanh said.
In thestock market, large-cap stocks continued to drive the market, mostly oil andgas and bank stocks.
Gains inglobal oil prices helped push up local oil and gas shares. Though P-shares werenot among the top 10 gainers, most of them were among top 30 rising stocks outof over 700 listings in the two markets.
[Experts optimistic about 2018 stock market prospects]
Thebiggest listed stock, PV Gas (GAS), rallied nearly 7 percent last week, whilePetrolimex (PLX) increased over 6 percent, and PetroVietnam Drilling and WellServices (PVD) gained over 4 percent.
Othersmaller firms, like PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) and PetroVietnamDrilling Mud (PVC), jumped over 13 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
On theNew York Mercantile Exchange, the US light crude posted a 2 percent weeklyrise, trading at 58.47 USD per barrel while the Brent crude gained 3.2 percentto 65.25 USD a barrel.
Withpositive earning prospects, bank stocks also posted a winning week with biglenders such as Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID) and Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPB)climbing 4-10 percent each.
Accordingto Tran Anh Tuan, head of analysis at Vietcombank Securities Co, the outlookfor the banking sector remains positive next year thanks to positive creditgrowth, supportive policies and banks’ efforts in dealing with bad debts.
“A numberof bank shares have gained substantially, and I think bank shares will still bean important sector leading the market uptrend next year,” Tuan was quoted assaying on securities website tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn.
Foreigntraders purchased a total net value of over 1.1 trillion VND on the twoexchanges, with the HCM Stock Exchange garnering the lion’s share at 1.07trillion VND.
On thesouthern bourse, their purchase were focused on steelmaker Hoa Phat Group’sshares, with five consecutive net selling sessions worth a total of 524 billionVND.
Statisticsshow that foreign investors have tended to pour more money in the last week ofthe year. In six of the last seven years (2010-2016), foreign traders have beennet buyers from December 20-31, except in 2011.-VNA
VNA
