Blue chips in the red as stock market posts losing session

Order-matched transactions on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) plunged to VND2.19 trillion ($94.27 million) from VND3.1 trillion ($133.44 million) in the previous session, making Monday the quietest session of the past two weeks.

HoSE, on which the VN-Index is based, saw 220 stocks fall and 122 rise. The VN30-Index for Vietnam’s 30 biggest market caps shed 1.23 percent, with 22 losing tickers and three gainers.

All stocks in the banking sector lost this session, led by BID of BIDV, one of Vietnam’s three biggest lenders by assets, which dropped 5 percent. The other two, VCB of Vietcombank and CTG of Vietinbank, lost 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.

Among major losing stocks were BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet, down 3.8 percent, VPB of private mid-sized lender VPBank, 3 percent, and VRE of retail corporation Vincom Retail, 2.8 percent.

MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World also fell 2.7 percent this session, followed by POW of state-owned PetroVietnam Power, down 2.3 percent.

The two biggest market cap stocks on HoSE, VIC of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, and VHM of its real estate subsidiary Vinhomes, shed 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Five stocks kept their opening price this session, including SAB of Vietnam’s biggest brewer Sabeco and MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group.

In the opposite direction, ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros and CTD of construction giant Coteccons were the biggest gainers this session, both surging 6.9 percent to hit their ceiling prices for the second session in a row.

ROS had been the biggest losing stock on the VN30-Index for many consecutive sessions, having fallen to its floor price (6.7-7 percent) in over half of its last 25 sessions.

The CTD stock had also fallen steadily in the last quarter of 2019, with Coteccons reporting declining profits every quarter, citing a slowdown in the real estate market and rising prices of construction materials. However, the stock picked up last Wednesday and gained for four consecutive sessions.  

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and midcap stocks, fell 0.9 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for unlisted public companies shed 0.7 percent.

After four consecutive net selling sessions, foreign investors became net buyers of nearly VND30 billion ($1.29 million) worth of shares on all three bourses. Buying pressure was most focused on VHM of Vinhomes and HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, which kept its opening price this session.