VN-Index ends three session gaining streak

By Hung Le August 26, 2020 | 02:15 am PT

An investor looks at stock prices on a laptop at a brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

The VN-Index edged down 0.07 percent to 873.47 points Wednesday, with drag coming from banking blue chips.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 209 tickers falling and 182 rising. Total trading volume dropped around 10 percent over the previous session, to VND6.23 trillion ($268.54 million), but remaining far above last month’s daily average of VND4.5 trillion.

The VN30-Index for the market’s 30 biggest capped tickers slumped 0.35 percent, with 20 tickers losing and 7 gaining. This basket continued to account for less than half of trading volume, at 43.7 percent this session.

Topping losses this session were HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, down 1.4 percent, PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry and SAB of major brewer Sabeco, both having fallen 1.2 percent, and REE of appliances maker Refrigerated Electrical Engineering, with 1.1 percent.

State-owned banks were some of the worst performers this session. Of this group’s three biggest lenders by assets, VCB of Vietcombank led with 0.5 percent, BID of BIDV 0.3 percent, while CTG of VietinBank kept its opening price.

MBB of state-owned mid-sized lender Military Bank also shed 0.8 percent this session.

Of private banks, TCB of Techcombank dropped 0.9 percent, followed by STB of Sacombank and VPBank, both having shed 0.4 percent. EIB of Eximbank was flat, and HDB of HDBank was the only ticker in the green, up 0.2 percent.

Other major losing stocks this session included FPT of IT services giant FPT, which slipped 0.9 percent, GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, down 0.4 percent, and MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, with 0.3 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s largest cap, kept its opening price. VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes shed 0.1 percent, while VRE of its retail arm Vincom Retail gained 0.9 percent.

In the opposite direction, PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex led gains with 2 percent, followed by TCH of truck dealer Hoang Huy Group, up 1.4 percent, and VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air with 1.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-capped stocks, gained 0.42 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market added 0.57 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers to the tune of VND377 billion on all three bourses, with selling pressure mostly on HPG of Hoa Phat Group and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, which edged down 0.2 percent this session.