VN-Index jumps to one-year high

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on Friday stretched its winning streak to seven days in a row as investors focused on bonus share issuances, brokers said.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on Friday stretched its winning streak to seven days in a row as investors focused on bonus share issuances, brokers said.

VN-Index, Vietnam’s major stock exchange, jumped above the resistance level of 570 points, gaining 9.82 points, 1.75 percent, to close at 571.01. This is the highest level in more than a year.

Of the index’s 174 members, 93 stocks advanced, 52 dropped and 29 unchanged. As investors were unwilling to sell over speculation on further rises, turnover dropped 14 percent from the previous session, with 65.8 million shares worth VND3.24 trillion being traded.

“The market seems to be focused more and more on potential or actual bonus share issuances as an incentive to push up equity prices short term. This is often the sign of an overheating market as earnings and valuations are taking a back seat,” Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HSC) said in a daily market comment.

Finance stocks were mixed today, with insurer Bao Viet (BVH), Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI) and Vietcombank (VCB) remaining an upward momentum while Sacombank (STB) lost ground due to profit taking.

Property stocks, meanwhile, all rose over sharp buying as investors expected the construction sector will grow robustly in near future.

Song Da Urban & Industrial Zone Investment & Development Joint-Stock Co. (SJS), known as SUDICO, surged 4.74 percent to VND199,000. The Hanoi-based builder plans to sell an extra 60 million shares to raise VND600 billion (US$34 million). It will use the proceeds to fund investment projects, according to a statement on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange’s website.

Vietnam Italy Steel Joint-Stock Co. (VIS), which manufactures and supplies construction steels, rose 3.49 percent to VND89,000. Prices of key commodities including rice and steel will be stable for three months as supply and demand are in balance, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam said, citing the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Demand for steel is estimated at 10.7 million tons and supply of the metal will be about 10.9 million tons, Thoi Bao said.

In Hanoi, the HNX-Index inched up 1.78 points, 1.02 percent, to finish at 176.46, while the UPCoM-Index of unlisted stocks crept down 0.79 points, 1.22 percent, to close at 63.85.

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