VN-Index rises as trading nears 15-month low

The index closed 4.07 points higher after gaining 0.60 points in the previous session.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased by 23% to VND10.206 trillion (US$402 million), the lowest since late October 2023.

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 17 tickers gained.

SSB of SeABank rose 1.8%, MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World saw a 1.8% increase, and POW of electricity producer Petrovietnam Power Corporation went up 1.7%.

Six blue chips fell. HDB of lender HDBank dropped 3.9%, FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation closed 1.2% lower, STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank slid 0.5%.

Foreign investors were net seller to the tune of VND446 billion, mainly selling FPT and STB.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 0.40%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went up 0.57%.

Globally, European shares advanced slightly on Wednesday, led by heavyweight healthcare and financial stocks, while focus remained on the global monetary policy trend in the New Year, Reuters reported.

The pan-European STOXX 600 added 0.2%, hovering near its highest level in three weeks.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5%. On Wall Street, all three main indexes finished lower as the economic and jobs data stoked inflation worries.

China's blue chip CSI300 Index fell more than 1% to its lowest in more than three months on Wednesday in a stuttering start to the year that has seen regulators and authorities rush to soothe investors' nerves.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped just over 1% to its lowest level since the end of November, while China's yuan fell to a fresh 16-month low.