VN-Index posts fifth consecutive gaining session

200 stocks gained and 153 lost on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based. Of these, 30 hit their ceiling prices, the highest they can go in a trading session.

Total transaction volume rose around 5 percent over the previous session, reaching VND4.78 trillion ($205.24 million), making Tuesday one of several busiest trading sessions in the past 30 days. Of these, order-matched transactions accounted for 86 percent.

The VN30-Index for the stock market’s 30 biggest caps rose even further at 1.61 percent with 16 stocks gaining and 10 losing.

VHM of real estate firm Vinhomes and VRE of Vincom Retail topped gains this session, hitting their ceiling prices at 7 percent. The two tickers are subsidiaries of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, whose VIC shares kept their opening price this session.

They were followed by MWG of electronics store chain Mobile World, which rose 6.7 percent. This session also saw 5.4 million shares of MWG change hands, the highest trading volume since the company listed 6 years ago. The company had just published its first quarter report saying post-tax profits rose 16 percent year-on-year.

Next were BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet Group, up 5.6 percent, CTD of construction giant Coteccons, 5 percent, and SAB of Vietnam’s biggest brewery Sabeco, 3.8 percent.

Six stocks in the banking sector were gainers this session, three of them of private banks: VPB of VPBank rose 3.7 percent; STB of Sacombank 2.8 percent; and HDB of HDBank, 1.2 percent.

BID of BIDV and VCB of Vietcombank, two of Vietnam’s three largest state-owned lenders by assets, went up 0.8 percent and 0.3 percent respectively, while MBB of mid-sized state-owned lender Military Bank rose 1.3 percent.

Other major gainers were in the food and beverage sector, with MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group rising 2.9 percent, and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk 2.4 percent.

In the opposite direction, ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros led losses with 6 percent. ROS has been one of the most volatile stocks on the VN-Index to date, fluctuating from floor to ceiling in over half of its trading sessions in the past two months.

Oil and gas stocks all suffered this session, with PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex down 3.1 percent, POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power, 1.8 percent, and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and midcap stocks, edged up 0.16 percent; and the UPCoM-Index for unlisted public companies added 0.20 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers again on all three bourses to the tune of VND400 billion ($17.17 million), with selling pressure mostly on VIC of Vingroup and GAS of PetroVietnam Gas.