VN Index dips after two-day rise

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam’s benchmark VN Index fell slightly on October 26 as large-cap stocks traded in the negative territory on strong investor selling.

The HCM Stock Exchange’s index inched down 0.07 percent to close at 830.11 points, stepping back from a two-day increase of nearly 1.3 percent.

More than 187.4 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth 4 trillion VND (178.3 million USD).

The trading figures represented an increase of 17 percent in volume and a decline of 7.2 percent in value compared to October 25.

The market breadth was negative with 185 declining stocks, 77 gaining and 51 stocks that closed flat.

Large-cap stocks underperformed as 19 of the 30 top companies by market capitalisation and trading liquidity in the VN30 Index saw share prices drop.

Among the worst decliners were PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), Kinh Bac City Development Holding (KBC) and Thanh Thanh Cong Tay Ninh Sugar Co (SBT).

However, the VN30 Index managed to rise 0.13 percent to 822.53 points on the back of FLC Faros Construction (ROS) and food and beverage producers Masan (MSN), Sabeco (SAB) and Vinamilk (VNM).

Shares of banks and brokerage companies contributed to the decline of the benchmark index.

Six of the seven bank stocks on the HCM Stock Exchange declined, including Vietcombank (VCB), MBBank (MBB) and Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID).

VCB lost 0.4 percent and MBB declined by 0.9 percent after having gained a total of 2.1 percent and 2.2 percent in the previous two sessions.

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Among declining brokerage stocks were the largest firms such as Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), HCM City Securities (HCM) and Viet Capital Securities (VCI).

HCM fell 2 percent following its two-session gain of total 4.1 percent, while SSI and VCI lost steam after advancing on October 25.

According to Bao Viet Securities Co’s analyst Tran Xuan Bach, the benchmark index offered little indication of how it would move in the upcoming sessions, though it was saved by investors’ pick-up purchases.

The market depended heavily on large-cap stocks, which underperformed on Thursday, indicating that investors were becoming more cautious with the market conditions, Bach said in a company note.

Such underperformance and divergence of large-cap stocks also increased pressure on mid-cap and small-cap ones, signaling possible further drops for the VN Index in the next sessions, he said.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index lost 1.01 percent to end at 106.31 points. The northern market index had advanced total 1.1 percent in the previous two sessions.

Nearly 57.2 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth 650 billion VND.-VNA