Vietnam’s shares down for third day

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese shares extended losses on both local bourses for a third day as banks fell amid investor expectations that interest rate hikes in the US and Europe could undermine the profitability of local financial firms.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange fell 1.7 percent to close at 573.20 points. The southern index has dropped 3.8 percent during three days.

The HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange declined by 1.1 percent to finish at 80.61 points. The northern index has gone down 1.7 percent in the last three days.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to cut its interest rates by 20 basis points at a meeting on Thursday while the US central bank is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points by the middle of this month. These moves are expected to make the Vietnamese dong weaker and hurt bank profits, Maritime Securities Incorporate (MSI) wrote in the weekly forecast.

The banking sector led the market decline as its index lost 3.3 percent. Vietcombank (VCB) lost 3.2 percent, BIDV (BID) slumped by 4.2 percent, CTG dropped 3.7 percent and Sacombank (STB) fell 6 percent.

In addition, energy stocks such as PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) declined on decreasing global oil prices after they made sharp gains last week.

The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped 3.1 percent to close at 41.71 USD a barrel on November 27. The WTI jumped 6.6 percent to trade at 43.04 USD a barrel on the previous day.

As a result, GAS lost 4 percent, PVS dropped 2 percent and PVD fell 2.8 percent.

The national stock market traded 183 million shares, worth 2.65 trillion VND (117.7 million USD), a decrease of 11 percent from last week's average trading value.-VNA