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Crisis leads to Vietnam market slump
Vietnamese stock prices tumbled on Sept. 16 following stock markets around the world in the wake of rising concerns over the US financial crisis.
Almost all Asian markets slumped on Sept. 16, a day after Lehman Brothers filed for bank ruptcy protection and Merill Lynch agreed to sell itself to Bank of America. Two more names being removed from the Wall Street map after Bear Sterns means that three of the US ’s top five financial institutions have run into trouble in the last six months.
Wave of sales pushed the VN-Index down 20.81 points, or 4.36 percent, to close at 455.95. Trading volume reached 16 million shares, more than half of Monday’s figure, with a total revenue of 570.88 VND billion (34.6 USD million).
The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange on Sept. 16 had 148 lossers, the majority of which hit the floor. These included blue chips such as Binh Dinh Minerals (BMC). Financing and Promoting Technology Co (FPT), Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), Phu My Fertilisers (DPM) and Sacombank (STB).
Vinamilk (VNM) was the biggest loser, falling 5.05 percent. This was followed by FPT with 4.94 percent, and BMC with 4.8 percent.
STB, however, saw the most action with orders for 3.4 million shares.
Foreign investors bought 2.44 million shares and sold 2.7 million units, with net sales value narrowed to 40.2 billion VND (2.44 million USD) from Sept. 15’s 100.86 billion VND (6.1 million USD).
In Hanoi Securities Trading Centre, the HASTC-Index slipped 7.82 points, or 4.8 percent, to end at 155.08. Trading volume hit 9.12 million shares worth 339.36 billion VND (20.56 million USD).
Major stocks including Kim Long Securities (KLS), Petroleum Technical Services Corp (PVS) and PetroVietnam Insurrance (PVI) hit the floor.
Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) led the market in terms of trading volume, with 1.37 million shares traded.
The price of diesel, which greatly affects enterprises’ production and business results, eased slightly by 450 VND per litre on Sept. 16 to a price of between 15,450-15,500 VND (93.6-93.9 US cents), due to adjustments made by the Ministry of Finance.
The adjustment followed the trend in the world market, said the ministry.
Due to the dim outlook of the US economy, world oil price on Sept. 16 dropped 3.68 USD a barrel down to 92 USD, the lowest level since mid-February. Crude oil was thrown into the pile of assets being liquidated by investors around the world to fund losing bets and to cut their exposure to risk, according to a Reuters report.
Investors were waiting for more news to determine market trends. Companies’ third quarter business results and macro-level indexes will not be announced until the end of September. The market will see both ups and downs this week, however it will overall likely remain in a downward trend in the short-term, predicted Euro Capital Securities in a report.
Investors were worried about the lower-than-expected business results given by listed firms this quarter due to the petroleum price adjustment over the last few months, said Agribank Securities analyst Dao Van Khanh.
VNA
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