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Stocks gain on sluggish volumes
The VN-Index made a slight gain yesterday, reversing Monday’s plunge by 0.86 per cent to close at 416.43.
Daily trading volume on the HCM City Stock Exchange dropped again, to 24.15 million shares worth a combined VND882.85 billion (US$49.6 million). Sacombank (STB) remained the most active share, with nearly 4 million units traded.
Shares in two of the three listed banks, Sacombank (STB) and Vietcombank (VCB), tread water, while shares of VietinBank (CTG) continued declining, closing at VND34,900 per share.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, meanwhile, advancers outnumbered decliners by 112 to 51, and the HNX-Index gained 1.31 per cent to close at 140.37 points.
But trades were moderating enough to pull the day’s trading volume on the northern bourse down to 9.3 million, worth a combined VND289.3 billion ($16.3 million).
Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) continued leading the market trades with only 1.7 million; followed by Kim Long Securities (KLS), with 1.5 million and civil constructor Vinaconex (VCG) with 819,900 shares.
Dao Van Khanh, an analyst at a Ha Noi-based brokerage, said yesterday’s gains might be attributable to share prices reaching investor expectation. "However, demand seems weak as investors remain anxious about tightening credit and the possibility of inflation making a comeback," he said.
Khanh said that the market had not yet settled from the recent upward cycle as fears for business prospects remained.
Saigonbank Berjaya Securities Co analysts, in their Monday market report, attributed lower market volumes to the lack of opportunities lately for day traders to realise quick returns.
Furthermore, institutional investors were expecting the VN-Index to drop back below 400 and were waiting on this possibility to strengthen their buy-in at this level, they said, suggesting investors meanwhile inject money into stocks with price-to-earnings ratios below 10.
Foreigners maintained their recent posture as net buyers yesterday, buying up a combined 3 million shares on both the HCM City and Ha Noi markets, favouring STB, CTG and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) on the southern bourse while picking up Kinh Bac Urban Development (KBC) and PetroVietnam Insurance (PVI) in Ha Noi.
The UPCoM-Index meanwhile dipped another 1.86 per cent yesterday to fall to 69.57 points, despite seven of the 10 listed firms showing gains. Market turnover dropped to only VND1.4 billion ($78.6 million) on the trades of 110,760 shares.
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