Investors at VNDirect Securities Company in Hanoi (Photo: tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn)Hanoi (VNS/VNA)- Shares declined on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on October 20 as investorconfidence weakened towards the end of the session, resulting in the decline oflarge-cap stocks.
The benchmark VN Indexedged down 0.25 percent to close at 826.84 points, retreating from its intradaygrowth of 0.55 percent.
The benchmark index alsostepped back from a 0.15 percent gain made on Thursday. It advanced total 0.7 percentover the week.
The market breadth wasquite positive with 178 declining stocks, nearly double the number of gainingones.
The imbalance betweengaining and declining stocks suggested investor confidence was quite poor andselling pressure was high, according to Bao Viet Securities Co (BVSC).
More than 196 millionshares were traded on the southern bourse, worth 4.76 trillion VND (211.7million USD).
The trading figures wereup 16 percent in both volume and value compared to October 19’s numbers.
BVSC analyst Tran XuanBach said in the company’s daily report that the VN Index closed down slightlyin the last trading session of the week as selling pressure rose when thesession was ending.
Selling pressuredominated the stock market and investors became more cautious with the markettrading condition, especially when the VN Index was mainly driven by large-capstocks, he said.
Selling in large-capstocks may rise in the short-term if investor confidence remained weak incoming days, making the VN Index break its supportive ranges, Bach added.
Blue-chip stocksunderperformed on October 20 as the VN30 Index, which tracks the performance ofthe top 30 companies by market capitalisation and trading liquidity, fell 0.42 percent.
In the VN30 basket,two-thirds of the 30 top stocks declined while only nine advanced.
Among declining stockswere Thanh Thanh Cong Tây Ninh Sugar Co (SBT), digital retailer Mobile World(MWG), brewer Sabeco (SAB), logistics firm Gemadept (GMD) and DHGPharmaceutical Co (DHG).
MWG dropped 3.4 percentfrom its six-day rally of total 8 percent. DHG lost 2 percent after announcingits pre-tax profit in the past quarter fell 17 percent year on year to 144.3billion VND.
“The VN Index could fallfurther in early sessions next week,” Bach said, adding that the nearestshort-term supportive range for the benchmark index is between 819 and 824points.
On the Hanoi StockExchange, the HNX Index slumped 0.86 percent to end at 108.14 points, totalinga three-day decline of 1.5 percent.
The northern marketindex also erased all gains made in the first two sessions, closing down 0.9 percentafter one trading week.
Nearly 43.6 millionshares were traded on the northern bourse, worth 479.8 billion VND.-VNA
VNA
