Shares declined yesterday on the two exchanges after foreign sells on heavyweight stocks reignited investors’ fears about a possible downturn.
The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged down 0.4 per cent to close at 664.2 points. The gauge increased 0.7 percent on Wednesday.
The market breadth was negative with 149 stocks declining, 98 advancing and 74 remaining flat.
Blue chips led the downturn as 22 of the top 30 largest shares by market capitalisation and liquidity lost value, while only seven gained.
The biggest listed stock Vinamilk (VNM) decreased 2.4 percent after foreign traders continued to offload these shares with a net sell value of VND66 billion (US$2.9 million). Vinamilk has been often among the top most-sold list by foreign investors in the past month.
Overall, foreign investors remained net buyers in HCM City’s market yesterday but their net sell value dropped to nearly VND12 billion, down 85 percent from Wednesday’s level.
Bank and financial shares were among the biggest losers. All of large banks including BIDV (BID), Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), Military Bank (MBB) and Sacombank (STB), as well as big securities firms like HCM City Securities (HCM) and Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) slumped.
Among the few gainers, steelmakers attracted money inflows after the Ministry of Industry and Trade forecasts demand for construction steel will remain relatively high on the back of a strong recovery of the real estate sector.
Hoa Phat Group (HPG) climbed 1.4 percent to VND42,500 a share with more than six million shares changing hands, being the third most active stock in the southern bourse.
Other steelmaking firms like Pomina (POM) increased 3.7 percent; Dai Thien Loc (DTL) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG) were up by less than 1 percent.
Gas stocks, led by PV Gas (GAS), PetroVietNam Low Pressure Gas Distribution (PGD) and CNG Vietnam (CNG) with increases between 0.8 percent and 3.1 percent, were on the investors’ radar after global oil prices continued to set new highs.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index decreased 0.6 percent to 79.8 points.
Liquidity fell as just 138 million shares worth VND2.5 trillion ($110 million) were traded in the two markets, down 16 percent in volume and 24.3 percent in value compared to Wednesday’s figures.
