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Index treads water on low demand
The VN-Index largely held its ground in yesterday's trading on the HCM City Stock Exchange, although demand remained sluggish.
The VN-Index shed a mere 1.03 points, or 0.32 per cent, to close at 317.93, but trading volume dropped a substantial 30.8 per cent from the previous trading day. Only about 13 million shares changed hands, for a turnover of VND354.27 billion (US$21.5 million).
Most codes saw minimal activity, except for Sacombank (STB), with orders for 2.75 million shares.
Among blue chips, FPT, Vincom Joint Stock Co (VIC) and PetroVietnam Drilling (PVD) increased slightly, while PetroVietnam Finance (PVF), Pha Lai Thermal Power (PPC) and Vinamilk (VNM) all declined.
Foreign investor transaction levels were also modest, with 1.6 million units sold and only 605,000 shares bought. Net sales value reached VND27.7 billion ($1.7 million) for the day.
The Viet Nam International Securities (VIS) analyst department said that investors remained unconvinced by recent Government efforts - such as prime rate cuts - to support the domestic market and economy but were paying a great deal of attention to global developments.
"There's little motive for the market to go up this week," said VIS analysts. "The US economy faces recession and needs more rescue plans."
"The market is still in a downward trend, as the world financial crisis, especially the US situation, has not seen a clear way out," wrote Dai Viet Securities in a report. "However, it's not likely that the market will slump sharply further; an overly depressed market would stimulate investor 'greed'."
The An Binh Securities analysis department expected the VN-Index to be steady, ranging between 313 and 342 this week. It noted that the market was still feeling significant pressure from foreign investor sales.
"The only bright point for the market in the current downtrend is the improvement in trading values," said a Ha Noi Securities report. "This shows that many investors are waiting for opportunities and ready to enter the market."
In Ha Noi yesterday, the HASTC-Index also held steady, gaining a mere 0.59 per cent to end the day at 104.51 points. About 7.5 million shares changed hands for a total value of nearly VND159 billion ($9.6 million).
Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) led the northern market but with only 792,000 shares, followed by Kim Long Securities (KLS) with 732,000 shares traded.
Viet Nam News
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