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Index drops on global unease
Share prices continued to fall on Nov. 18 on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, with mixed investor sentiment.
The VN-Index lost 4.36 points, or 1.26 percent, to close at 340.69, while trading volume increased slightly to nearly 12 million shares on a turnover of 362.5 billion VND (21.6 million USD).
Trading activity continued to be minimal. Only Sacombank (STB) showed significant activity, with 2.2 million shares traded, while runner-up as most active share, Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), saw only 923,000 shares change hands.
”We are seeing caution from buyers, both domestic and foreign”, commented a Dai Viet Securities report. “It’s a necessary attitude at this time, as the world economy is witnessing highly complex developments.”
The report noted that the crisis had spread to retail and to manufacturing industries, with such major names as GM and Ford now struggling to survive.
A Vietnam International Securities Co report also showed worries about the short-term outlook for the economy, citing news that Standard&Poor’s was considering lowering Vietnam ’s credit rating. The report cited Deutsche Bank and Citigroup data predicting that Vietnam ’s economic growth would slow to 5.2 percent next year, while the US , Japanese and EU economies are all entering 2009 in recession.
Bloomberg chairman Peter Grauer told Dau tu Chung khoan (Securities Investment) last week that declines in economic growth would certainly affect companies’ profits, and would slash share values. He said the downturn might last until the end of 2010.
Shares prices in Hanoi on Nov. 18 bucked the trend, as the HASTC-Index rose by 0.93 percent to end the day at 111.38. About 7.5 million shares changed hands for a total value of 233.6 billion VND (14 million USD).
VNA
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