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Shares plunge on sluggish trading
Shares plunged further in May 23 afternoon's session as blue chips lost ground and investors became cautious after Tuesday's bulltrap.
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Source: VietstockFinance
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The VN-Index gave up another 2.5 per cent to close at 436.75 points, with trading value decreasing by 25.5 per cent over the previous session to VND1.12 trillion (US$53.3 million) on a volume of 66 million shares.
On the VN30 Index, 25 of the top 30 shares by market capitalisation and liquidity sank, driving the Index down 1.63 per cent to 508.45 points.
The two largest shares Vietcombank (VCB) and PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) bottomed out while insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) lost 3.6 per cent.
Steelmaker Hoa Sen Group (HSG) was the most active stock yesterday on trading of 2 million shares, gaining 1.68 per cent to settle at VND18,200 ($0.87).
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell by a more substantial 3.73 per cent to 73.61 points. Market liquidity decreased slightly to 55 million shares, worth VND596.6 billion ($28.4 million).
Habubank (HBB) reclaimed the position of the most active share in Ha Noi yesterday with over 5 million shares traded, but slid 5.6 per cent to a close off at VND5,100.
"The sharp fall today showed that the current price level may not be attractive to investors yet. Expectations of a strong bounce bank did not materialise and may lead to higher selling pressure in coming sessions," said Pham Tien Dung, an analyst at Bao Viet Securities Co.
Yesterday afternoon, the Ministry of Finance decided to lower the cost of fuel by VND600 per litre to VND21,700 ($1.03), but the announcement came after trading had already closed for the day.
Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam, Nguyen Van Binh, said for the first time in a recent statement that the central bank would consider redefining the prime interest rate and reducing key interest rates if inflation continued to decrease and economic conditions improved.
However, according to analysts, the positive news did not seem to lift investor psychology much as stocks had doubled or even tripled in price over the past four months, and investors were likely to grab any profits they could if there were any negative signs.
Foreign investors were still net buyers on both exchanges yesterday, picking up shares worth a combined value of over VND57 billion ($2.7 million)
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