VN-Index records biggest losing session in two weeks

By Hung Le December 31, 2019 | 02:23 am PT

An investor look at stock boards at securities firm in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

The VN-Index fell 4.04 points, or 0.42 percent, to 960.99 points on Tuesday, its biggest losing session in the last fortnight.

199 stocks lost and 137 gained on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based. Order-matched transactions were VND2.1 trillion ($90.8 million), making the last session of the year one of the quietest this month.

The VN30-Index for Vietnam’s 30 biggest market cap companies shed 0.14 percent, with 178 stocks closing in red and 6 in green, seven stocks having lost at least one percent.

ROS shares of real estate developer FLC Faros continued to be the biggest losing stock on the market, having fallen 7 percent, the fourth consecutive session the stock had hit floor price.

It was followed by CTD of construction giant Coteccons, which dropped 3 percent, and GAS of state-owned energy firm PetroVietnam Gas, down 2.8 percent.

For Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned banks, VCB of Vietcombank and CTG of VietinBank lost 0.9 and 0.7 percent respectively, while BID of BIDV gained 0.1 percent.

VIC shares of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s highest market cap stock, retained its opening price, while shares of its subsidiaries, VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes, and VRE of retail group Vincom Retail, lost 0.8 and 1.4 percent respectively.

Other major blue chips that lost this session included BVH of insurance heavyweight Bao Viet Holdings, down 1.2 percent, REE of appliances maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp, down one percent, and SAB of Vietnam’s biggest brewer Sabeco, down 0.9 percent.

Of the six stocks that gained this session, three belonged to mid-sized private lenders, namely HDB of HDBank, VPB of VPBank, and TCB of Techcombank, adding 2.4 percent, one percent and 0.4 percent respectively.

The remaining two gainers were NVL of real estate developer Novaland, up 1.7 percent, and VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air, up 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, HNX-Index for stocks on Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and mid-cap stocks, fell 0.43 percent, while UPCoM-Index for Unlisted Public Companies gained 0.45 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of VND127 billion ($5.49 million) on all three bourses, with selling pressure mostly on VIC of Vingroup and ROS of FLC Faros.