Banks lead stock market in gaining session

Order-matched transactions on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) surged to VND2.7 trillion ($115.68 million) from VND2.2 trillion ($94.26 million) in the previous session.

HoSE, on which the VN-Index is based, saw 198 stocks rise and 135 fall. The VN30-Index for Vietnam’s 30 biggest market caps added 0.41 percent, with 19 gaining tickers and seven losers.

ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros led gains for the third straight session, closing 6.9 percent up, its ceiling price.

The stock seems to be recovering strongly after being the biggest losing stock on the VN30-Index for many consecutive sessions in the past month, having fallen to its floor price (6.7-7 percent) in over half of the sessions in this period.

Similarly, CTD of construction giant Coteccons was among the top three gainers on the VN30-Index, rising 3.8 percent, its fifth consecutive gaining session. It was also a stock that had been declining steadily in the final three months of 2019, with Coteccons reporting declining profits every quarter, citing a slowdown in the real estate market and rising prices of construction materials.

CTG of Vietinbank, one of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders by assets, led gains in banking sector stocks with 4.3 percent. The other two, BID of BIDV and VCB of Vietcombank, rose 3.5 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

Among the remaining six mid-sized banking stocks, only HDB of private HDBank lost this session, with 1.7 percent.

In the other direction, the biggest losing stocks included HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, down 3.1 percent, followed by VNM of Vietnam’s biggest dairy firm Vinamilk, down 1.7 percent, and GAS of state-owned energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, down 1.4 percent.

VIC stocks of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, and the biggest market cap ticker on HoSE, also shed 0.3 percent this session.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and midcap stocks, rose 1.09 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for unlisted public companies added 0.54 percent.

Foreign investors were net buyers of VND65 billion ($2.78 million) worth of shares on all three bourses. Buying pressure was focused most on MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, and VNM of Vinamilk.