VN-Index gains 1 percent as banking stocks do well

230 stocks gained and 119 stocks lost on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based. Total transaction volume changed little over the previous session, reaching VND4.28 trillion ($183.58 million), order-matched transactions accounting for 72 percent.

The VN30-Index for HoSE’s 30 biggest market caps gained 1.53 percent, with 21 gainers and 5 losers.

VPB of private VPBank and VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail topped gains at 7 percent and 6.9 percent respectively, both hitting their ceiling prices.

Other major gainers this session included VJC of budget carrier VietJet Air, up 6 percent, MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, 4.6 percent, and SBT of agricultural firm TTC Sugar, up 3.7 percent.

VJC had been gaining for the previous three straight sessions, rising 7 percent to its ceiling price Friday. The airline announced Friday it was resuming domestic flights on April 16, after Vietnam’s 15-day nationwide social distancing campaign ends.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup and VHM of its real estate subsidiary, the biggest and third biggest market caps on the VN30, also added 1.1 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

All private banking stocks gained this session, with strong gainers being TCB of Techcombank, up 2.7 percent and HDB of HDBank, one percent.

Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned banks by assets, CTG of VietinBank, BID of BIDV, and VCB of Vietcombank, added 0.8 percent, 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

Oil and gas were a mixed bag with POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power adding 3.2 percent and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas climbing 1.3 percent, but PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex shedding 1 percent.

On Sunday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies in the OPEC+ group, in conjunction with efforts from the G20 and International Energy Agency, finalized a deal which could see up to 20 million barrels of oil per day removed from an oversupplied global oil market.

The deal is set to boost oil prices, which had been in free-fall as the Covid-19 slashed global demand. However, as of 4:50 pm, Brent Crude continued to plummet 3.72 percent over the last trading session, to $30.84 a barrel.

On the HoSE, MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group topped losses this session with 3.5 percent, followed by SSI of brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., 1.1 percent and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, down 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, gained 0.92 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market added 0.45 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers on all three bourses this session to the tune of VND272 billion ($11.67 million), with selling pressure highest on VIC of Vingroup and BID of BIDV, two of the VN30’s biggest caps.