VN-Index nudges down for second straight session

206 stocks lost and 161 gained on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based.

Total trading volume reached its highest since the beginning of the year, with VND7.4 trillion ($315 million) changing hands on Thursday. A large portion of this came from around VND2.5 trillion ($106.4 million) worth of MSN shares of food conglomerate Masan Group bought by foreign investors via the put-through option.

On HoSE, foreign investors were net buyers for the third consecutive session to the tune of VND2.45 trillion ($104.3 million). These three sessions have ended a streak of 26 straight sessions wherein they net sold stocks on Vietnam’s stock exchanges.

The VN30-Index for HoSE’s 30 largest capped stocks fell 0.38 percent, with 20 stocks losing and 10 gaining.

HDB of private HDBank led losses with 3 percent, followed by CTD of construction giant Coteccons, down 2.3 percent, and PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry with 2 percent.

VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail shed 1.8 percent and VHM of its sister real estate developer Vinhomes lost 1.1 percent, but VIC of the two tickers’ parent corporation Vingroup, HoSE’s biggest cap, rose 1.1 percent.

Oil and gas stocks saw red this session. POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power dropped 1.5 percent, GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, 1.2 percent, and PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex, 0.1 percent.

Other major losing stocks included BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet Group, down 1.6 percent, CTG of major state-owned lender Vietinbank, 1.4 percent, and FPT of IT services corporation FPT, 1.3 percent.

In the opposite direction, MSN of Masan Group, with strong buying pressure from foreign investors, led gains at 3.2 percent, followed by ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros, up 2.4 percent, and SSI of brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., up 1.4 percent.

Most of the remaining gainers were stocks in the banking sector, although their gains did not exceed 1 percent each.

STB of private Sacombank rose 0.9 percent, EIB of private Eximbank added 0.7 percent, while VCB of Vietcombank and BID of BIDV, two of Vietnam’s three largest state-owned lenders by assets, gained 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, slipped 0.46 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for stocks on Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 0.47 percent.

After a streak of six consecutive gaining sessions that sent the VN-Index up 9.55 percent to a peak of 835.32 points, securities companies had predicted that the market will see more corrective or selling pressure from investors wishing to cash in their gains, with key resistance thresholds being 840 and 860 points.

However, brokerage Bao Viet Securities (BVSC) said in its latest report that it expects the market to continue its positive trend up to 860-880 points in the near future, with foreign net buying and the State Bank’s reduction of several key interest rates providing a stimulus for the market.