Trading cools but VN-Index maintains momentum

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, was overwhelmingly green with 267 stocks rising and 146 falling. Of these, 23 hit their ceiling prices, the highest they could go in a trading session.

After registering this year’s record daily volume of VND14.32 trillion ($621.9 million), liquidity cooled by 31 percent to VND9.88 trillion, of which just over half went toward the VN30, a basket of the bourse’s 30 largest caps.

Lower average short-term deposit rates across the banking sector was a factor driving cash towards equity markets in recent periods, said brokerage BVSC in their latest report.

Average 6-month deposit rates among the group of state-owned banks in November fell nearly 0.08 percent over the previous month. For large scale (capital of over VND5 trillion) private banks, they downed by 0.09 percent, and for small joint stock private banks (capital below VND5 trillion), 0.15 percent.

Overall, average short-term interest rates for 6- and 12-month terms across the entire banking sector are currently sitting at 5.05 percent and 5.99 percent respectively, BVSC said, quoting data from analytics firm FiinGroup.

The VN30-Index this session gained 0.56 percent, on par with the general market. In this basket, 15 stocks gained while 11 lost.

Topping gains was POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power, up 5.6 percent, HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, up 4.4 percent, ROS of construction firm FLC Faros, with 2.8 percent, and SSI of brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., with 2.5 percent.

The private banking sector saw some of the highest gainers but also some of the worst losers. VPB of VPBank was up 2.2 percent, STB of Sacombank up 1.6 percent, while EIB of Eximbank, the least volatile stock in this group, kept its opening price.

HDB of HDBank shed 1.1 percent, and TCB of Techcombank 0.4 percent.

Of state-owned banks, BID of BIDV and CTG of VietinBank edged up 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent respectively. VCB of Vietcombank stayed flat, while MBB of mid-sized Military Bank slumped 1.6 percent.

Other major gainers included VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, up 0.8 percent, KDH of real estate developer Khang Dien House, up 0.7 percent, and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, with 0.6 percent.

In the opposite direction, REE of appliances maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering topped losses with 2.3 percent.

Other major losers were SAB of brewer Sabeco, down 0.9 percent, VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air, with 0.6 percent, and PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex, with 0.6 percent.

The HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-caps, rose 0.79 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Companies Market gained 0.61 percent.

Foreign investors turned net buyers to the tune of over nearly VND450 billion on all three bourses, with buying pressure mostly on VPB of VPBank and HPG of Hoa Phat Group.