VN-Index slips 2 points as Asia stocks surge

By Hung Le December 13, 2019 | 02:30 am PT

An investor monitors share prices on an electronic board at a local securities trading floor in Hanoi. Photo by AFP.

The VN-Index fell 1.99 points, or 0.21 percent, to 966.18 points Friday as Asian stocks surged on news a U.S.-China trade deal was closer.

174 stocks lost and 146 gained on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s main bourse on which the VN-Index is based. The HoSE accounts for nearly 90 percent of market capitalization of all Vietnam’s listed companies.

The VN30 for Vietnam’s 30 biggest market cap stock also shed 0.48 percent, with 16 losing and 8 gaining.

VRE of retail corporation Vincom Retail and VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes, both subsidiaries of Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, led losses with 3.5 percent and 2.3 percent respectively, while VIC shares of parent company Vingroup remained at the opening price.

They were followed by NVL of real estate developer Novaland, down 1.8 percent, HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, down 1.7 percent, and CTD of construction giant Coteccons, down 1.6 percent.

Most private banking stocks on the VN30 either fell or remained at their opening price this session, but stocks of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders by assets, CTG of VietinBank, BID of BIDV, and VCB of Vietcombank led gains, rising 2.2 percent, 2.2 percent, and 1 percent respectively.

Liquidity of order-matched transactions rose nearly 10 percent over the previous session to VND3 trillion ($130.05 million), still lower than the November average of VND3.5 trillion ($151.74 million).

Transactions by foreign investors were fairly balanced with a net sell of VND1 billion ($43,316), buying pressure mostly on Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned banks, and selling pressure on HPG of Hoa Phat Group and VHM of Vinhomes.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and mid-cap stocks, added 0.23 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for Unlisted Public Companies rose 0.39 percent.

Stock markets across Asia surged Friday following reports of a new U.S.-China trade deal avoiding new tariffs and possibly rolling back existing levies.

By 3.pm Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 255 had jumped 2.55 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.57 percent, and South Korea’s Kospi added 1.54 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite surged 1.78 percent and Shenzhen Component 1.48 percent.