VN-Index claws back 34-point morning loss

The benchmark index continued to slide another 34 points to 1,097 points in the morning session, after plunging 61 points Tuesday when panic selling from investors saw the market clock its biggest single-session loss in six months.

However, afternoon buying pressure on the market’s blue chips allowed the index to recover all of its losses in the morning. The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 209 stocks gaining and 235 losing at the end of the day.

Total trading volume abated 15 percent over the previous session, to VND17.8 trillion ($772.76 million), split evenly between stocks in the VN30 basket of the market’s 30 largest caps, and those outside.

The VN30-Index outperformed the general market this session, up 0.8 percent, with 21 stocks gaining and six losing.

Real estate and construction stocks were some of the best performers this session. NVL of Novaland led gains with 3.9 percent, followed by KDH of Khang Dien House with 2.8 percent, ROS of FLC Faros 2.7 percent, and VHM of giant Vinhomes, with 0.7 percent.

Only TCH of Hoang Huy Group bucked the trend by topping losses on the VN30 with 2.7 percent.

Among the best gainers this session were MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, up 2.3 percent, FPT of IT services giant FPT, 2.1 percent, PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry, 1.9 percent, and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, with 1.8 percent.

Banks stocks closed mostly positively this session. In the private sector, TCB of Techcombank was up 1.8 percent, VPB of VPBank, 0.9 percent, HDB of HDBank, 0.6 percent, EIB of Eximbank kept its opening price, while STB of Sacombank shed one percent.

Of Vietnam’s three largest state-owned lenders by assets, BID of BIDV and VCB of Vietcombank added 0.6 percent and 0.1 percent respectively, while CTG of VietinBank slipped 0.7 percent. MBB of mid-sized Military Bank remained flat.

Other major losers this session included SBT of agricultural exporter TTC-Sugar, down 2.5 percent, SSI of brokerage SSI Securities Corporation, 1.5 percent, and VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail with 1.3 percent.

The HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid-and small-caps, surged 4.12 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Companies Market added 0.04 percent.

Foreign investors continued as net buyers to the tune of VND240 billion on all three bourses, picking up mostly VNM of diary firm Vinamilk, which added 1.2 percent, and the FUEVFVND, an exchange traded fund replicating the performance of stocks on the VN Diamond Index.