Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnamese shares are forecast to extend theirgrowth in the final week of August by a marginal rate while volatility iswidely expected by analysts as buyers are believed to be cautious due to thelack of news that could bolster optimism in the market.
The benchmark VN Index on the HCM StockExchange was down slightly to end at 987.95 points on August 24. It made aweekly gain of 1.9 percent last week.
The HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange advanced1 percent the same day to finish last week at 111.62 points, making an increaseof 3.33 percent week on week.
The HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchangeadvanced 1 percent the same day to finish last week at 111.62 points, making anincrease of 3.33 percent week on week.
According to analysts, the VN Index maycontinue rising this week to reach its old peaks of 990 points and 1,000 pointswith strong volatility and low trading liquidity.
Last week, the Vietnamese stock marketrecorded an average of 193 million shares being traded on the two local bourseseach session, worth 4.74 trillion VND (210.8 million USD).
Shares of financial firms, banks, energycompanies, food and beverage producers and property developers were the majorsupport for the market’s rally.
Foreign investors posted 8.2 billion VND worthof net sell value. That was a big change compared to their net sell value of 124.8billion VND made in the previous week.
“There is not much support from foreigncapital for the market at the moment as selling is still foreign investors’short-term trend while domestic traders are not strong enough to lift themarket consistently,” said Nguyen Nhat Cuong, analyst at Vietinbank SecuritiesJSC.
The indices are consolidating withinvestors waiting for news from global markets and from local businesses tomake new decisions, he told the finance-business news sitetinnhanhchungkhoan.vn.
“Many large-cap stocks and blue chips areapproaching their resistance zones and they are about to encounter strongselling pressure after having risen substantially,” Cuong said.
“A large number of investors are hesitantto press the ‘buy’ button as they worry about the increased trade tensionsbetween the US and other economic blocs plus extended net foreign sell value,”he added.
Last week, investors paid attention totalks between the US and China as the two governments were seeking solutions toease trade tensions.
However, the two-day meeting last week cameout with no progress. Besides, the US tariffs on Chinese imports officiallywent into effect on August 23, raising investors’ worries about potentialnegative developments in the two largest economies’ trade relationship.
But local analysts showed little concernover the trade tension between China and the US as they think the futuredevelopments will not seriously impact the Vietnamese economy.
“The US-China trade tension is in thespotlight because it would create big changes in the global economy and everynew move is immediately reflected on the international financial market,” saidSaigon-Hano Securities JSC (SHS) analyst Ngo The Hien.
“But I see both global and Vietnamesemarkets have made positive moves after having suffered during the early stagesof the trade tension. Maybe investors have been calmer and they see positivesignals from the two governments as they are trying to hold talks to resolvethe issue,” Hien said.
Cuong at Vietinbank Securities JSC saidthat the latest trade talk failure had been widely predicted, and so had thepossibility of another Fed rate hike in September.
Therefore, the two factors would not hurtVietnamese stocks as investors’ worries had been reflected in the early stageand stocks had already fallen sharply, he said.
According to Viet Capital Securities Corpanalyst Vu Minh Duc, investors should pay attention to the two exchange-tradedfunds (ETFs) - the VanEck Vectors Vietnam ETF and the FTSE Vietnam ETF - asthey are preparing for quarterly portfolio reviews and any decisions made bythe two ETFs would clearly direct the stock market in different ways.
The current market trading condition isalso an opportunity for investors to seize stocks that are highly valued basedon their earnings prospects and the macro-economic conditions in the lastquarter of the year, Duc added.
If the VN Index beats the 1,000-point level andextends its recovery to the old-peak of 1,200 points, bank stocks would remainquite attractive to investors as they are now undervalued compared to themarket average, he said.-VNS/VNA