MSN shares rose to theirceiling price for the session of 87,000 VND (4.15 USD) after globalinvestment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts agreed to buy a 10 percent stakein Masan affiliate Masan Consumer for 159 million USD.
Overall, however, shares remained in a downtrend on the HCM StockExchange, with decliners outnumbering advancers on April 14 by 142-54.
Blue chips were mixed, with Bao Viet Holdings (BVH),Phu My Fertilisers (DPM) and steel producer Hoa Phat Group (HPG) eachrising by less than 1 percent, while Vietinbank (CTG), software giantFPT and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) each declined by 2-3 percent.
Both the value and volume of trades on the HCM City bourse onApril 14 dropped by about 6 percent, with value totalling just 496billion VND (23.7 million USD) on a volume of 24.3 million shares.
Sacombank (STB) was the most-active share nationwide, with 3.1 millionchanging hands – its highest volume in the past two months. STB closedup 0.7 percent to 13,900 VND (0.70 USD) a share.
Onthe Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index retreated by another 0.39percent to 89.07 points. The value of trades fell 6 percent to a meagre266.2 billion VND (12.7 million USD), on a volume of only 18 millionshares.
Losers outnumbered gainers by 185-75, withVNDirect Securities (VND) the most-active share on the Hanoi bourseon a volume of 1.38 million. VND closed down 1.4 percent to 14,500 VND(0.75 USD).
"Draining volumes show that investorsare leaving the market," said independent analyst Pham Viet Hung. "Infact, investors can hardly make a profit from investing in the currentbear market."
FPT Securities Co analysts said thecentral bank decision to increase foreign currency reserve requirementsimposed on commercial banks and the application of a ceiling on interestrates they can pay on US dollar deposits would not help increase cashflows into the stock market.
Meanwhile, April'seconomic data and first-quarter corporate earnings reports would beclosely monitored in the coming weeks to determine a new market trend,they wrote in a note, predicting the market would continue to fluctuatewithin a narrow band with low volumes in the next sessions.
Foreign investors concluded on April 14 as net buyers on bothexchanges, picking up 2.2 million shares worth a combined 46 billion VND(2.2 million USD). /.