HCMC stocks end 4-day rally

Two investors follow the stock index at the VNDirect Stock Exchange. — VNS Photo Truong Vi

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s benchmark VN-Index fell after a four-day rally, dragged down by financial-banking, retail and agricultural stocks.

The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange dropped 0. 三 八 per cent to close at  九 五 二. 七 七 points after gaining a total of  三. 一 per cent in the previous four sessions.

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange lost another 0. 五 六 per cent to end at  一0 五. 五 六 points. The northern market also lost 0. 五 六 per cent on Tuesday.

More than  二 四 九. 三 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ 五 trillion (US$ 二 二 五. 五 million). The figures were down  一 一. 七 per cent in volume and  一. 一 per cent in value compared to Tuesday.

Large-cap stocks finished the day in negative territory with the blue chip VN 三0 Index down 0. 五 四 per cent at  九 三 九. 三 一 points and  一 七 of the  三0 largest stocks by market capitalisation declining.

The retail sector index fell  二. 一 per cent, and the agricultural sector index dropped  二. 六 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed. The figures for banking, insurance and brokerage industries were down between 0. 一 per cent and 0. 五 per cent.

Among the decliners were digital retailer Mobile World (MWG), Phú Nhuận Jewellery JSC (PNJ), Vietinbank (CTG), MBBank (MBB), Hoàng Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and its sub-unit HAGL Agrico (HNG).

Other stocks that performed poorly and had negative impacts on the stock market included logistics firm Gemadept (GMD), IT group FPT Corp (FPT), DHG Pharmaceutical JSC (DHG) and budget carrier Vietjet (VJC).

Net foreign selling was another element driving the market down on Wednesday. Foreign investors sold VNĐ 二 二 六. 二 五 billion, about four times the figure from the previous two sessions.

According to Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities JSC (SHS), Wednesday’s decline was expected after the previous four sessions.

It was a “technical slide” because the VN-Index posted a slight drop and trading liquidity remained above the average level of the last  二0 sessions, SHS said in its daily report.

“Wednesday’s session was more like an opportunity for investors to exchange expectations rather than a signal that the market has lost momentum.”

Such fluctuation would stop soon and the VN-Index had a chance to rise further, SHS forecast, adding that the VN Index-would consolidate at  九 四 五- 九 六0 points on Thursday. — VNS