Blue chips lead VN-Index’s 2.67 pct. gain

287 stocks gained on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), Vietnam’s main bourse, while 86 lost. Trading volume rose slightly over the previous session, to VND3.83 trillion ($161.93million), with order-matched transactions accounting for 55.3 percent.

The VN-Index had surged in the morning to nearly 685 points, before plateauing and falling slightly in the afternoon session.

The VN30-Index for the market’s 30 largest caps rose 2.95 percent, with 27 gainers and only two losers. Four stocks hit their price ceilings, the highest they can go in a single session.

Topping gains were STB of private Sacombank, up 7 percent, followed by BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet Group, SSI of brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., and ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros, all of which rose 6.9 percent.

ROS had closed at VND3,260 ($0.14) in the previous session, its lowest point since the real estate developer listed in September 2019. The stock had peaked in late 2017 at VND180,000 ($7.63), but is now worth around 50 times less, and is the lowest capped VN30 stock.

Banking stocks were the highlight of this session, with Vietnam’s three biggest lenders by assets, CTG of VietinBank, VCB of Vietcombank and BID of BDIV adding 6.4 percent, 4.8 percent, and 4.1 percent respectively.

Private banks were also some of the biggest gainers, with HDB of HDBank rising 6.5 percent, EIB of Eximbank 3.8 percent and TCB of Techcombank, 3.3 percent.

Despite global crude prices continuing to fall, oil and gas stocks continued to perform well with PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex adding 6.6 percent, POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power 3.8 percent, and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas 2.4 percent.

As of 4:20 p.m. Wednesday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent Crude were trading at $20.21 and $24.98 a barrel respectively, their lowest prices in 18 years.

In a recent report, securities firm VNDIRECT explained that falling crude prices, a result of Covid-19 slashing demand, tend to have more of a negative impact on companies upstream in the oil supply chain, while companies downstream may actually benefit.

However, VNDIRECT warned that investors should remain cautious when given the unpredictability of the market during the Covid-19 pandemic, anticipating that Saudi Arabia will ramp up oil exports in April, as the country had announced last month.

Other major gainers this session included VIC of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, up 3.1 percent, MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, up 3.9 percent, VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, 3.3 percent, and PNJ of PhuNhuan Jewelry, 5.9 percent.

In the opposite direction, VHM of Vinhomes and NVL of Novaland, both real estate developers, shed 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent respectively. 

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and midcap stocks, increased 3.21 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for unlisted public companies added 1.86 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of VND130 billion ($5.5 million) on all three bourses, with selling pressure mostly on MSN of Masan Group, which rose 0.4 percent, HVN of national carrier Vietnam Airlines, up 3.93 percent, and VIC of Vingroup, down 3.1 percent.