Banking stocks drive VN-Index to fourth straight gaining session

By Hung Le   May 21, 2020 | 04:45 am PT
Banking stocks drive VN-Index to fourth straight gaining session
An investor looks at stock prices on the screens at a brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.
Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 1.15 percent to 862.73 points Thursday, with banking stocks posting the biggest gains.

The VN-Index had hovered slightly above opening price throughout the trading day, but a sudden influx of buy orders on banking stocks in the final 30 minutes of trading caused the index to shoot up 7 points at the end of the session.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw a fairly balanced session with 176 tickers gaining and 172 losing.

Total trading volume surged 25 percent over the previous session to VND5.47 trillion ($235.37 million), making Thursday a busier-than-average trading session.

The VN30-Index for HoSE’s 30 biggest market caps rose even further with 1.52 percent to 815.55 points, with 24 gaining and only 2 losing.

HDB of HDBank and EIB of Eximbank, the tickers of two private mid-sized banks, topped gains with 6.8 percent and 6.7 percent respectively. Both hit their ceiling prices, the highest they can go in a trading session.

TCB of private Techcombank also surged 4.5 percent, followed by tickers of four state-owned lenders. CTG of VietinBank added 2.9 percent, VCB of Vietcombank 2 percent, MBB of Military Bank 1.7 percent, and BID of BIDV with 1.4 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, the stock market’s biggest capped stock, added 1.4 percent, while VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes rose 1.2 percent.

Other gainers included SAB of major brewer Sabeco, up 2 percent, REE of appliances maker Refrigerated Electrical Engineering, up 1.3 percent, and BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet Group, up 1.2 percent.

Oil and gas stocks were not among the big gainers this session. GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas rose 1.2 percent, PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex added 0.3 percent, while POW of PetroVietnam Power kept its opening price.

Among the blue chips, only CTD of construction giant Coteccons and VRE of Vingroup’s retail arm Vincom Retail finished in the red, down 0.3 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 1.12 percent this session, while the UPCoM-Index for stocks on Unlisted Public Companies Market added 0.56 percent.

Foreign investors returned to being net sellers on all three exchanges to the tune of VND67 billion ($2.88 million), with selling pressure mostly on HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, VRE of Vincom Retail and VIC of Vingroup. 

 
 
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