Investors unfazed by Q3 GDP slump

The index dipped by 11 points at some point in the morning but climbed back to close with a 0.1-point drop.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, fell 6 percent to VND17.24 trillion ($756.33 million).

The General Statistics Office announced Wednesday that Vietnam’s GDP dropped by 6.17 percent in the third quarter, due to the impacts of the fourth Covid-19 wave.

But there was no sell-off as pandemic figures seem to be improving with 4,583 new Covid-19 patients recorded Tuesday, the lowest single-day tally in over two months.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 17 tickers ending in the red, led by STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank with a 2.8 percent drop.

This brought the ticker to its lowest in over four months.

CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank continued its downward trend with a 1.8 percent fall to a five-month low.

Other losers included BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings and SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation, both falling 1.2 percent.

Twelve blue chip tickers gained, with POW of electricity producer Petrovietnam Power Corporation hitting a three-week high with a 3.8 percent gain.

MSN of conglomerate Masan Group rose for the second session in a row with a 3.7 percent increase.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of VND513 billion, the highest in the last eight sessions, with strongest pressure on HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group and CTG.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, lost 0.49 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market dropped 0.07 percent.