Illustrative image (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Shares concluded the week in opposite directions onthe two stock exchanges on December 22 as investor confidence weakened on anunstable market outlook.
On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index advanced 0.66 percent to close at952.32 points. The southern market index decreased 0.8 percent on December 21.
Meanwhile, the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange declined for a secondstraight day, down 0.47 percent to end at 113.03 points.
The northern market index lost 0.8 percent in the last two sessions.
Large-cap stocks continued to diverge with 18 of the top 30 largest shares bymarket value and liquidity on HCM City’s bourse (VN30) gaining value while 11fell.
Vietcombank (VCB) and VinGroup (VIC) were the two biggest gainers which largelycontributed to the market’s rally on December 22. VCB rallied 4.74 percent andVIC increased 3.6 percent. They are two of the top 10 biggest listed stocks bymarket value.
Other supporters included PV Gas (GAS), IT group FPT (FPT), insurer Bao VietHoldings (BVH), brewer Sabeco (SAB) and Mobile World Group (MWG) with growth of0.8-2.3 percent.
Total trading volume continued to drop, reaching 249 million shares on the twoexchanges, down 12.3 percent from December 21’s level, but value of trades shotup, touching 8.7 trillion VND (381.6 million USD), a rise of 22.5 percent overthe previous session.
The higher number of declining stocks (compared to gaining stocks), accompaniedby recent decreased trading volume has led to rising caution among investors,according to analysts at BIDV Securities Company (BSC).
Trade focused on large caps, with the trading value on the VN30 accounting forover 75 percent of total trading value on HCM City’s exchange.
“We forecast the market will continue to accumulate around 950 points, soinvestors can spend time looking for opportunities in good fundamental stockswith strong results in the fourth quarter of 2017,” BSC’s analysts wrote in areport on December 22.
The VN-Index has moved around 950 points throughout this week, a rise comparedto the 935 points since December 15 but a decrease from the 10-year high of 970points recorded on December 4.
Market capitalisation reaches 74.6 percent of GDP.
Vietnam’s stock market capitalisation hit 3.36 quadrillion VND (147.4 billionUSD) in 2017, up 73 percent from the end of 2016, and equivalent to 74.6 percentof the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). This number has surpassed thetarget (market cap to GDP ratio) set for 2020.
This result was announced by Pham Hong Son, vice chairman of the StateSecurities Commission at the yearly review meeting on December 21.
Liquidity has improved sharply with average trading value reaching almost 5trillion VND per session, a yearly increase of 63 per cent.
The bond market has become more active with total listing value touching over 1trillion VND, up 8 percent over 2016-end and equal to 23 percent of GDP. Theaverage trading value was 8.9 trillion VND per session, up 38 percentyear-on-year.
The derivative market, which officially came into operation in August thisyear, has attracted investors with total trading volume reaching over 946,300 contractsand 15,800 trading accounts, a two-fold increase compared to the end of August.-VNA
