Late surge pulls VN-Index back into the green

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, was a sea of green with 250 tickers rising and 152 falling. Total trading volume reached VND7.3 trillion ($315 million), fairly modest compared to the last few sessions when liquidity consistently exceeded VND9 trillion.

Large gains in blue chips drove the market this session, with the VN30-Index for HoSE’s 30 largest caps surging 1.35 percent. The basket accounted for 62 percent of total trading volume, and saw 24 stocks on it gain compared to only five that lost.

Topping gains were CTG of state-owned lending giant VietinBank, up 3.1 percent, MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, 2.6 percent, and FPT of IT services company FPT, with 2.3 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s largest cap, was up 2.9 percent, while VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes added 1.4 percent, and VRE of retail arm Vincom Retail rose 0.7 percent.

All of one ticker in the banking sector was in the green. Of state-owned banks, BID of BIDV rose 1.4 percent, VCB of Vietcombank 0.5 percent, while MBB of mid-sized Military Bank was up 1.3 percent.

In the private sector, VPB of VPBank was the best performer with 2 percent, followed by EIB of Eximbank, up 1.4 percent, STB of Sacombank, up 1.4 percent, TCB of Techcombank, up 0.8 percent, while HDB of HDBank edged down by 0.2 percent.

Oil and gas stocks were some of the best gainers. POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power was up 2 percent, GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas 2 percent, while PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex added 1 percent.

In the opposite direction TCH of truck dealer Hoang Huy Group lost the most with 2.2 percent, followed by SAB of major brewer Sabeco, down 0.4 percent, ROS of construction firm FLC Faros, down 0.4 percent, and SBT of agricultural firm TTC-Sugar with 0.3 percent.

The HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-caps, climbed 0.63 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Companies Market slumped 0.17 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers this session to the tune of VND600 billion on all three bourses. The most net sold stocks were MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, which rose 1.6 percent, and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, which added 0.3 percent this session.