VN-Index up with marginal recovery

The index was mostly in the green in the morning but saw several dips to the 1,150 range in the afternoon before ending with a 3.42-point gain.

Trading volume on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, plunged 11 percent to VND13.35 trillion ($582 million). The bourse saw 220 stocks gain and 214 lose.

ACB of Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), VIC of top private conglomerate Vingroup and GAS of state-owned PetroVietnam Gas Jsc contributed the most to the index’s latest gain.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks on the HoSE, saw 14 tickers in the green, led by VJC of budget airline Vietjet, which climbed 2.4 percent to this year’s new peak of VND135,000.

It was followed by PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex, up 1.9 percent to VND58,400, breaking the previous peak recorded in January before the market plunged.

Both MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World and PNJ of Phu Nhuan Jewelry gained 1.4 percent after recording four consecutive drops in a row.

HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group rounded off the top five gainers with a 1.3-percent increase. It needs another 1.7-percent gain to return to the January peak of VND44,900.

On the losing side, SBT of sugar producer Thanh Thanh Cong – Bien Hoa Jsc led with a 1.8 percent fall. It has dropped 6 percent since the market resumed trading on February 17.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the fifth session in a row to the tune of VND461 billion, with selling pressure once again highest on VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, followed by HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group and VPB of private lender VPBank.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, gained 3.5 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market added 0.34 percent.