VN-Index drops after morning surge

By Hung Le   April 2, 2019 | 04:48 am PT
VN-Index drops after morning surge
An investor monitors share prices on an electronic board at a local securities trading floor in Hanoi. Photo by AFP
After surpassing 990 points in Tuesday’s morning session, the VN-Index dropped over 6 points in the afternoon on strong selling pressure.

By the end of Tuesday’s afternoon session, Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index fell to 985.81 points, down 0.28 percent from Monday, totally losing its upward momentum of the morning, which saw a 0.34 percent rise of 3.4 points.

The VN-Index had been hovering between 975 and 985 points in the last five sessions, never rising or falling above 0.8 percentage points.

Vietnam’s other main stock market, the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), also fell slightly to 107.48 points, a 0.22 percent reduction over Monday.

By the end of the Tuesday’s session, the market seemed fairly balanced with 320 stocks gaining in value, and 311 stocks closing in red.

The VN-Index’s decline was largely caused by slowing growth of large-cap stocks like tech giant FPT (FPT), state-owned gas corporation PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), and dairy giant Vinamilk (VNM) which saw only a slight growth of 0.3 percent each. GAS and VNM had been growth drivers in Monday’s session, closing 2 percent plus points up.

In particular, the group of stocks connected to Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate, collectively fell by between 0.2-0.3 percent. This included real estate corporation Vinhomes, retail corporation Vincom Retail, and the VIC shares of the group’s parent company, which also are the three largest cap stocks in the market.

Shares of commercial banks also dropped in Tuesday’s second session, with the most significant decrease being a 2 percent drop in BID shares of BIDV, one of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders. In the banking sector, only three private bank stocks managed to close in green.

Overall, listed IT companies saw the biggest average increase in this session, up 1.08 percent, while accommodation, catering and entertainment stocks fell the hardest, down 1.63 percent.

Foreign investors remained net buyers on all exchanges, with a total net purchase of VND280 billion ($12.04 million). Foreign cash focused primarily on MSN shares of private food conglomerate Masan Group (VND107 billion, or $4.6 million), and VIC of Vingroup (VND66 billion, or $2.84 million).

 
 
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