Investors at the Sai Gon Securities Exchange. (Photo: VNA)
Vietnamese shares were mixed on the two local exchanges on October 14 while energy stocks fell further following a decrease in global oil prices.
The VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange decreased by 0.2 percent to close at 589.98 points, extending its losses for second day, while the HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange rose 0.1 percent to finish at 80.74 points.
The energy sector fell 2.4 percent as US benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped slightly to trade at 46.64 USD a barrel at the end of the October 14 session.
Among energy stocks, Petrovietnam Gas Corporation (GAS) lost 1.1 percent, PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services (PVD) was down 0.3 percent and PetroVietnam Drilling Mud Corporation (PVC) fell nearly 1 percent.
The banking index fell 2.8 percent as the Chinese government on October 12 reported that its trade volume for September fell 1.1 percent from a year ago while its import value decreased by 17.7 percent.
The data raised a concern among investors about the possibility that China may depreciate its yuan to boost the economy, thus threatening Vietnam's foreign exchange rates, Sai Gon Securities Corporation (SHS) wrote in a report.
SHS also reported that the exchange rate between the dong and the US dollar rose 160 VND from the value last weekend and now stood between 22,380 VND and 22,460 VND.
The brokerage said that such move in the foreign exchange rate made investors become more cautious with their actions during the last few days.
At the end of the day, the biggest banks such as Vietcombank (VCB) lost 1.5 percent, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) fell 0.8 percent, and Vietinbank (CTG) dropped nearly 1 percent.
VCB also reported a pre-tax profit of 4.52 trillion VND (201.7million USD) after the first three quarters, an increase of 8.3 percent year-on-year.
In addition, some large stocks on the market such as Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and HDG Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Corporation (DHG) declined after the Government said it doesn't plan to sell stakes in these companies. BVH went down 4.2 percent and DHG fell 1.5 percent.
The two local exchanges traded more than 148 million shares and 2.6 trillion VND (116 million USD) on October 14, an increase of 12.6 percent.
FLC Group (FLC) remained the most active stock on the market for a third day with more than 8.4 million shares in trading. FLC remained flat at the end of the day.-VNA
