Stock trading value hits five-week low

The index stayed in the green throughout the day but closed three points lower in the last minutes of trading.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, fell 13.5 percent to VND23 trillion ($1.01 billion), the lowest since Oct. 26.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 17 tickers in the red, led by VPB of private lender VPBank with a 2.4 percent drop.

SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation fell 2.2 percent in its second session in the red.

Three banking stocks followed: STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank fell 2 percent, HDB of HDBank dropped 1.6 percent and MBB of lender MB lost 1.4 percent.

Thirteen blue chip stocks gained, with PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex rising 2.2 percent and PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development gaining 1.9 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the seventh straight session to the tune of VND740 billion with focus on DXG of real estate developer Dat Xanh Group and HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 0.53 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 0.03 percent.