Fears of international recession spook investors
The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange continued to decline Tuesday as investors, scared by the global market declines, tried to dump their shares and bail out of the marketplace, a broker said.
The VN-Index of 160 leading companies and four closed-end funds slipped 19.47 points, or 4.49 percent, to close at 414.24.
“Sharp falls in the US, European and Asian markets Monday spooked investors,” Nguyen Hai Son of the HCMC-based FPT Securities Co said.
Global stock markets reeled Monday, as panicked investors scurried for cover on fears that a much-vaunted US finance sector bailout will fail to end a crippling credit crisis.
The round-the-world sell-off slammed markets from Tokyo to Wall Street, with some European bourses seeing record declines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 800 points during the session, slipping below the key psychological level of 10,000 for the first time since 2004.
The blue-chip index closed down 369.35 points (3.58 percent) at 9,955.50.
The Nasdaq composite skidded 4.34 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 3.85 percent, halving early losses.
European equities were rattled by fresh troubles after a weekend meeting of the leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Italy failed to produce a joint European financial rescue package.
The London FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 7.86 percent to 4,589.19 points while in Paris the CAC 40 index shed 9.04 percent, its heaviest one-day loss since its creation in 1988, to 3,711.98 points.
The Frankfurt DAX lost 7.07 percent, last standing at 5,387.01 points.
In Asia, Tokyo ended down 4.25percent as Hong Kong shed 5.0 percent, Seoul tumbled 4.3 percent and Sydney lost 3.3 percent. Shanghai dived 5.23 percent and Mumbai plunged 5.78 percent to close at two-year lows.
But Son expects the HCMC market to recover today. “Strong buying appeared in the last session as many investors waited for prices to drop by the maximum allowed 5 percent to buy,” Son said. “It appears many investors found prices have become attractive.”
Ken Tai Chee Ming, technical analyst for Singapore and Vietnam at Kim Eng Securities in Singapore, said the VN-Index would remain on a downtrend but not plummet like earlier this year.
“It’s now not the time for long-term investment,” Minh said. “Investors should opt for short terms, from two weeks to one month.” He also suggested investors should sell off to cut losses when their share prices lose 5-10 percent.
Trading volume was around 10.7 million shares, a 30 percent fall from Monday.
There were six gainers and 153 losers while five remained unchanged.
Of the losing stocks, 143 fell by the daily maximum limit of 5 percent.
Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock-Bank, or Sacombank, the exchange’s only listed bank, remained the most active by volume, with more than 1.6 million shares traded.
The HCMC-based lender plunged VND1,100, or 4.72 percent, to close at VND22,200, a three-month low.
Shipping firm Saigon Maritime Joint Stock Co. managed to escape the carnage, gaining VND2,100, or 4.96 percent, to close at VND44,400.
Kamm Investment Holdings, Inc. bought 54,000 shares in the shipping company to raise its stake from 6.16 percent to 7.96 percent, the exchange reported on its website.
Fuel maker Materials - Petroleum Joint-Stock Company, known as Comeco, fell by VND1,700, or the daily maximum limit of 5 percent, to close at VND32,300.
Sacombank announced on the exchange’s website Monday that it increased its holding in Comeco from 6.04 percent to 7.23 percent by buying 102,320 shares.
Foreign investors remained net buyers to the tune of VND15.4 billion (US$930,513).
Among their most popular stocks were PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemical Joint-Stock Co. (DPM), dairy maker Vinamilk (VNM), petroleum transport firm PV Trans Corp. (PVT), oil drilling firm PV Drilling (PVD) and steel maker Hoa Phat Group (HPG).
Thanhnien
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