VN-Index edges down with liquidity at two-month low

The benchmark VN-Index fell back into the red after surging 2.23 percent the previous session, which had ended a streak of six consecutive losses that had cost the index 46.17 points, or 5.3 percent.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, saw 210 stocks lose and 168 gain. Total trading volume fell nearly 20 percent over the previous session to VND3.78 trillion ($164.09 million), the lowest since May 5.

This is in stark contrast with liquidity between the beginning of May until mid-June, which was a period of strong recovery for the VN-Index in tandem with Vietnam stopping community transmission of the Covid-19 virus.

Trading volume went as high as VND7 trillion ($303.87 million) a session during this period.

The VN30-Index for the stock market’s 30 biggest capped stocks fell 0.16 percent, with 18 stocks losing and 10 gaining.

POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power led losses this session with 1.9 percent, followed by VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, which lost 1.5 percent, and ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros with 1.5 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, the VN30’s largest cap, shed 1.2 percent, while VRE of its retail arm Vincom Retail fell 0.7 percent, and VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes kept its opening price.

Most private banks were losers this session, led by STB of private Sacombank, down 1.3 percent; VPB of VPBank, down 0.7 percent; and EIB of Eximbank and TCB of Techcombank, both down 0.3 percent. HDB of HDBank, meanwhile, was the only ticker that rose, gaining 0.6 percent.

Of Vietnam’s three biggest lenders by assets, BID of BIDV fell 0.5 percent, VCB of Vietcombank edged down 0.1 percent, while CTG of VietinBank kept its opening price. MBB of mid-sized state-owned lender Military Bank slipped 0.3 percent.

In the opposite direction, CTD of construction giant Coteccons continued to hit its ceiling price for the second consecutive session, surging 7 percent. The gains followed the construction firm’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, when chairman Nguyen Ba Duong issued an apology to shareholders, admitting the company’s board of directors’ shortcomings in allowing conflicts of interest with minority shareholders to take place.

Duong also said that two new board members will soon be appointed from Kustocem and The8th, two Singapore-based construction investors, who own 18.23 percent and 10.42 percent of the Vietnamese construction giant, respectively.

Other major gainers included MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, up 3.1 percent, SAB of major brewer Sabeco, up 2.4 percent, and insurance giant Bao Viet Group, up 2.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, shed 0.07 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market added 0.29 percent.

Foreign investors turned net sellers to the tune of VND180 billion ($7.8 million) on all three bourses, with selling pressure mostly on VIC of Vingroup and POW of PetroVietnam Power.