VN-Index falls for fourth consecutive session

The VN-Index, which represents stocks on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), Vietnam’s main bourse, lost a total 17 points, or 1.7 percent in its last four sessions.

On HoSE, 207 stocks lost and 113 gained Wednesday. Order-matched transactions came to VND3.28 trillion ($141.2 million), slightly higher than the December average of VND3.17 trillion ($136.5 million) so far.

The VN30-Index, which represents Vietnam’s 30 biggest market cap stocks, lost 0.49 percent with 19 losing and 8 gaining, but only four stocks lost more than 1 percent.

MWG of electronics retail giant Mobile World led losses at 3.3 percent, followed by GAS of state-owned energy giant PetroVietnam Gas at 2 percent.

VIC of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup was one of the three stocks that kept its opening price, while VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes shed 1.6 percent, and VRE of retail arm Vincom Retail dropped 0.95 percent.

While most banking stocks lost this session, Vietnam’s two biggest state-owned lenders by assets, VCB of Vietcombank and BID of BIDV gained 1.4 percent and 0.55 percent respectively.

The biggest gainers this session were VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, up 1.5 percent, BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet, 0.8 percent, and MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, 0.3 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of VND21.5 billion ($925,600), with buying pressure mostly on HPG of steel-making giant Hoa Phat Group and VIC of Vingroup.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and mid-cap stocks, shed 1.06 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for Unlisted Public Companies slipped 0.05 percent.