An investor follows transactions at Viet Dragon Securities Company. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese sharesdeclined on March 1 after rising for four consecutive sessions, due tolarge-cap stocks underperforming as investors sold in pursuit of short-termprofits.
The benchmark VN Index on the HCM StockExchange dropped 0.51 percent to close at 1,115.79 points. It has gained total4.2 percent in the previous four days.
The HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchangewas down 0.74 percent to end at 127.10 points. The index inched up 0.60 pointsto end at 128.05 points on February 28.
More than 307.04 million shares were tradedon the two local exchanges, worth 8.7 trillion VND (439.2 million USD).
The market trading condition was ruled bydeclining stocks, which were dominant over gainers by 280 to 201, while 248other stocks ended flat.
Large-cap stocks returned to the negativeterritory as 17 of the 30 largest ones by market capitalisation in the VN30Index suffered from investors’ sell-off pressure.
The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted PublicCompany Market (UPCoM) edged down 0.45 percent to finish 59.82 points. Theunlisted market index gained 0.03 percent to finish at 60.09 points in theprevious session.
Notably, Binh Son Refining andPetrochemical Company Limited (BSR) was heavily bought on UPCom, reaching theceiling price as other petroleum stocks declined.
Before ATC session, large-cap stockscorrected together. Banking and petroleum stocks could no longer maintain theirmomentum. Rather, steel stocks such as HPG, HSG, NKG and the securities sectorwith SSI, HCM and SHS gained.
Foreign investors were net sellers of 167.13billion VND on HOSE, concentrated on HCM (95.8 billion VND), HDB (45.8 billionVND) and VCB (30.6 billion VND). In addition, they sold a net of 31.11 billion VNDon the HNX.
The VN Index ended the last trading sessionof February at 1,120 points, marking an increase of 14 percent compared to thebeginning of this year, making it world’s fastest-growing market in the sameperiod, followed by Brazil, Russia and Argentina.
The breakthrough in Vietnam’s stock marketwas mainly attributable to optimistic macro-economic fundamentals, positivebusiness results of listed companies and high investor expectations for Statedivestment plans among many large State corporations.
According to the Prime Minister’s DocumentNo 991/TTg-ĐMDN, 2018 will be the peak year for equitisation of State-ownedenterprises (SOEs) and State capital divestment, with MobiFone, VTC, Genco 1and 2 and Saigon Jewelry Company Ltd (SJC) conducting IPOs, attracting largecash flow from domestic and foreign investors.
In January, the initial public offerings(IPO) of Vietnam Rubber Corporation, PetroVietnam Oil Corporation, Binh Son Refiningand Petrochemical Company and PetroVietnam Power Corporation were conductedsuccessfully. They were three of the largest SOEs by capitalisation among the69 SOEs listed in the equitisation plan of 2017.
Another major push was caused by the stronginflows of foreign capital. Foreign traders were responsible for net buyingvalues of nearly 12 trillion VND in the first two months of the year, aftertotal net purchases of 28 trillion VND in Vietnam’s stock market in 2017.
According to Bao Viet Securities Company(BVSC), the VN Index is forecast to still move sideways in the next sessionswith increasing selling pressure on large-cap stocks which have gone throughstrong uptrend.
Meanwhile, the BIDV Securities (BSC) saidin its report that the market will remain volatile. It recommended investorsobserve when the division spreading across the market, which will push the riskto a higher level. - VNA
VNA
