Investors during a session at the Saigon Securities Inc’s office in Hanoi (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnamese shares declined on February 8 as investorsshowed little confidence amid the current volatility of the global markets andthe sharp fall in crude prices.
The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange dropped 1.66 percent to closeat 1,023.25 points. It gained 2.86 percent in the previous session.
The HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange was down 2.24 percent to end at116.94 points, retreating from its 3.45 percent growth on February 7.
The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) edged down 0.53percent to finish on February 8 at 56.46 points. The unlisted market indexjumped 3.3 percent in the previous session.
More than 241.8 million shares were traded on the three local exchanges, worth 5.68trillion VND (252.7 million USD).
Trading figures on February 8 were down 22.8 percent in volume and 27.3 percentin value compared to February 7.
The market trading condition was ruled by declining stocks, which were dominantover gainers by 369 to 266, while 143 other stocks ended flat.
Large-cap stocks returned to the negative territory as 24 of the 30 largestones by market capitalisation in the VN30 Index suffered from investors’sell-off pressure.
According to Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC), investors were quite cautiousand concerned about the possibility of a market bull-trap, in which the marketshows a false signal of increasing but continues to decline.
Such caution increased the selling pressure while investors were also unwillingto open their cheques as the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday was coming, makingtrading liquidity decline from the previous day, BVSC said in its daily report.
The Hanoi-based securities firm forecast that trading liquidity may improve inthe next sessions but the stock market would need more time to balance andsettle down before showing a clearer direction for the near future.
Sell-off pressure pulled down 15 of the 20 sectors on the stock market onFebruary 8 with the worst-performing sectors being banking, energy, brokerage,real estate and agriculture, data on vietstock.vn showed.
Among the industries that suffered from investors’ selling pressure, energystocks were hit by the current downward trend of crude prices.
Brent crude has lost about 6.6 percent in the past one week to trade at 65.06 USDa barrel on February 8. Gas and oil stocks on the Vietnamese market thatsuffered included PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and WellServices (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS).
The agriculture sector was brought down by negative trading of two firms –Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and its sub-unit HAGL Agrico (HNG). The two firm shareshit their daily declining limit of 6.9 percent each.
The two firms have been warned that their listing on the HCM Stock Exchange maybe cancelled if they fail to submit their 2017 financial reports on time. Thetwo firms had been previously warned of delisting twice for the same reason in2015 and 2016.-VNA
VNA
