VN-Index declines for third day

Bank stocks grew on September 21 but failed to lift the VN-Index, which declined for a third day under high selling pressure (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - Bank stocks grew on September 21 but failed to lift the VN-Index, which declined for a third day under high selling pressure.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index edged down 0.24 percent to close at 803.93 points. The key index decreased 0.5 percent in the last three sessions.

Large-cap stocks were a mixed bag, with 14 of the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity (VN30) advanced while 12 declined.

Bank stocks were among gainers. Five of the seven banks on the southern bourse gained value and only Sacombank (STB) dropped by less than 1 percent.

The four biggest banks in terms of market value and assets – Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), BIDV (BID) and Military Bank (MBB) – increased slightly between 0.13-1.71 per cent each.
Some heavyweight stocks like VinGroup (VIC), PV Gas (GAS), FPT Corp (FPT), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Mobile World Group (MWG) and FLC Faros Construction (ROS) also picked up but most of them grew by less than 1 percent.

On the negative side, stocks pulling down the market included Masan Group (MSN), down 4.8 percent, and brewer Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage (SAB), down 2.9 per cent. They are two of the 10 biggest listed stocks on the HCM City’s exchange by market value.

Other big losers also included Vinamilk (VNM), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), steelmaker Hoa Phat Group (HPG), DHG Pharmeceutical (DHG), Kinh Bac City Development (KBC) and Novaland Investment Group (NVL).

According to BIDV Securities Co, the negative performance of the market this week, coupled with a lack of information caused investors to be reluctant to raise their portfolio exposure. Meanwhile, liquidity decreased, revolving around mainly speculative stocks.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index maintained its weekly uptrend with a rise of 0.54 percent to end yesterday at 105.75 points.

The northern market index has gained 1.21 percent this week.

Liquidity improved slightly with trading volume of 222.6 million shares with total value exceeding 4.3 trillion VND (189.6 million USD) being exchanged in the two markets, up 7 percent in volume and 12 percent in value compared to September 20.

However, a negative signal was the return of net selling by foreign traders after two-days of net buying. Foreign investors were responsible for net sell value of 23.4 billion VND on September 21 in the two markets. Their sales continued to focus on blue chips including Masan Group, budget airline Vietjet (VJC) and Vinamilk.-VNA