Vietnam stocks slip, Chinese shares jump

The index closed 0.57 points lower after gaining 4.01 points in the previous session.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased by 1% to VND21.56 trillion (US$876 million).

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 11 tickers gained and 19 fell.

Eleven blue chips fell. VHM of property giant Vinhomes dropped 2.3%, followed by PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex with a 1.4% decline.

MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World closed 1.2% lower while GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group ended the day with a 1.1% fall.

Among the gainers, STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank led with a 2.6% increase, followed by SHB of Saigon Hanoi Commercial Bank, up 2.3%.

Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND250 billion, mainly buying FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation and TPB of private TPBank.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 0.09%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went up 0.42%.

Also Friday, Chinese stocks raced toward their best week since 2008 and helped lift Asian shares to 2-1/2-year highs after Beijing rolled out a huge stimulus package to revive the economy, while a sharp fall in oil prices bodes well for disinflation globally, Reuters reported.

China's blue chips jumped 3.5%, bringing the weekly rise to 14.6%, the most since November 2008. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also gained 1.9% and was up 11.2% for the week, its best performance since 2009.

The Japanese yen fell 1% to three-week lows as markets bet Sanae Takaichi, the economic security minister who opposed interest rate hikes, could win the leadership contest of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Friday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.5%, having hit its highest level since February 2022 earlier in the day. It was headed for a weekly gain of 5.3%, thanks to a huge turnaround in Chinese shares.