Hanoi (VNA) - Stocks on the HCM Stock Exchange edged up in the lasttrading minutes on December 23, but the overall market condition was negativeas investors remained cautious prior to year-end holidays.
The benchmark VN-Index, the measure of 321 stocks, gained marginally to closethe session at 664.4 points. The gauge slid 1.6 percent for the week.
The losers outnumbered the gainers by 130-110, while 81 ended flat.
Gains of heavyweight stocks such as dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), real estatedeveloper VinGroup (VIC), Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), insurer BảoViệtHoldings (BVH) and steelmaker HòaPhát Group (HPG) rescued the market fromanother fall.
Onthe Hanoi Stock Exchange, without the support of large-cap stocks, theHNX-Index decreased 0.9 percent to end at 79.1 points. The Index slipped 0.8percent this week.
Thedecline was attributed to weak purchasing, as investors worried about themarkets being pulled down by large-cap shares and had their minds on theholidays.
“Themarket is under pressure from dry cash inflows. Support information has given alittle boost to the market overall and had limited effect on several individualstocks,” stock analysts at Artex Securities Co wrote in a note.
The market was undergoing another downward adjustment with up-and-down sessionsaltering. However, the VN-Index could bounce back to 665-670 point range in thenext sessions as major stocks recovered, analysts at Maritime Securities Cowrote in a note.
Liquidity increased yesterday with a total of 150.3 million shares worth 2.7trillion VND (118.9 million USD) traded in the two markets, up both 8 per centin volume and value compared to Thursday’s figures.
Vietnam Sea Products Import-Export Joint Stock Corporation debuted all 125million shares yesterday on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) underthe code SEA. The shares climbed 39.5 percent to end at 15,900 VND ashare.
Foreign investors remained net sellers in HCM City’s market but their net sellvalue decreased substantially to just 4.4 billion VND. They were net buyers inHanoi but for just 303 million VND.-VNA