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Oil price cut heads off stock selloff
The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange took a breather Wednesday after four straight sessions of strong gains, as investors booked profits.
The VN-Index rose less than a point to close at 561.85.
“The index should have lost more ground since there was heavy profit-taking,” a HCMC dealer said.
“But the government’s decision to cut fuel prices today helped prevent the index from crashing.”
The second cut this month saw the price of the most commonly used grade of gasoline fall to VND17,000 a liter from VND18,000, and kerosene to VND18,000 from VND19,000.
On the HCMC bourse, trading volume rose to more than 33 million shares compared to Tuesday’s 20 million and Monday’s 23 million.
There were 124 gainers and 29 losers.
“The [oil price cut] boosted volumes on the stock market today,” Bloomberg quoted chief analyst at the HCMC-based SME Securities, Co Hoang Thach Lan, as saying.
“However, given that world oil prices have started rising in the last few days, there’s still some chance the government may decide to raise retail prices a little in the near future.’’
World oil prices Wednesday rose on the back of concerns that Hurricane Gustav may head for the Gulf of Mexico where many US energy installations are located, according to AFP.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, gained 55 cents to $116.82 per barrel in electronic deals, after the hurricane slammed into Haiti on Tuesday.
London’s Brent North Sea crude for October rose by 40 cents to $115.03.
Foreign investors remained netsellers, notching up sales of around VND100 billion.
PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemical Joint Stock Company, petroleum transportation firm Vipco, steel maker Hoa Phat Group, Vinamilk and drilling firm PV Drilling bore the brunt of their selling.
The Hanoi Securities Trading Center stretched its winning run to five days in a row, with the HaSTCIndex gaining 5.39 points, or 2.92 percent, to close at 190.06.
Thanhnien
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