VN-Index continues ascent

Although it teetered slightly into the red in the morning session, the benchmark VN-Index immediately shot up as high as 945 points at the beginning of the afternoon session due to a surge in buy orders of blue chips.

However, this demand did not last long, and profit-taking pressure took the market back into the red, before at-the-close (ATC) buy orders, especially on VIC stocks of private conglomerate Vingroup, took the index back above its opening of 940.18 points.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), which the VN-Index is based, saw 184 stocks gaining and 223 losing despite ending in the green. Total trading volume remained at its highest levels this year, reaching VND9.41 trillion ($406.81 million).

Nearly 60 percent of trading volume this session went to blue chips on the VN30, a basket of HoSE’s 30 largest capped stocks. This is a major trend buck compared to the last few months, where non-blue chips have more consistently attracted over half of daily cash flow, a result analysts attributed to investors’ tendency to look for new opportunities when the Covid-19 hit most blue chips’ bottom lines.

The VN30-Index this session rose 0.79 percent, much higher than the general market, with 19 tickers gaining and 8 losing.

Topping gains this session were PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry, up 3.3 percent, and STB of private Sacombank, with 2.6 percent.

VIC of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup, also HoSE’s largest cap, gained 2.6 percent. It’s retail arm VRE of Vincom Retail also added 0.9 percent this session, but VHM of real estate Vinhomes was one of the VN30’s biggest losers, having fallen 1.3 percent.

Other major gainers included HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, up 2.5 percent, REE of appliances maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering, up 1.7 percent, MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, with 1.4 percent, and VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air, up 1.3 percent.

Private lenders were some of the best performers this session. HDB of HDBank rose 1.4 percent, EIB of Eximbank 1.1 percent, and VPB of VPBank added 0.2 percent.

However, results were mixed in the public banking sector. Of Vietnam’s three biggest lenders by assets, VCB of Vietcombank and CTG of VietinBank climbed 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent respectively, while BID of BIDV topped losses with 1.5 percent. MBB of mid-sized Military Bank was also down 0.3 percent.

Other than VHM of Vinhomes, the real estate and construction sector saw three other names in the red. TCH of Hoang Huy Group shed 0.5 percent, ROS of FLC Faros 0.4 percent, and KDH of Khang Dien House 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, HNX-Index for stocks on Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, soared by 1.58 percent, and UPCoM-Index for stocks on Unlisted Public Companies Market added 0.55 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers to the tune of over VND280 billion on all three bourses, with buying pressure mostly on MSN of Masan Group and SAB of major brewer Sabeco, which kept its opening price.