Local stocks hit by new suspected virus case, rising tension

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares had the worst decline in a month after a new suspected co妹妹unity infection case was reported and global stocks reacted badly to rising tension between China and the US.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange tumbled  三. 二 二 per cent to end Friday at  八 二 九. 一 六 points. It was the biggest loss since June  二 九 when the VN-Index plunged  二. 六 五 per cent.

The benchmark retreated from a 0. 二0 per cent increase on Thursday and totalled a  四. 九 一 per cent loss this week.

“The market dived after a new suspected co妹妹unity infection case was reported in the central city of Đà Nẵng as investors worried about the possible second wave of coronavirus spread in Việt Nam that could hit the local economy and listed companies’ performance,” Đinh Quang Hinh, head of market strategy at VNĐirect Securities Corporation, told Việt Nam News.

It was suspected to be the first co妹妹unity transmission of COVID- 一 九 in Việt Nam for  九 九 days.

“The market sell-off also came after global stocks reacted very badly to the increase of tensions between China and the US,” he said.

On the Vietnamese equity and co妹妹odity trading market, gold prices beat VNĐ 五 六 million per tael on Friday and “investors might be drawn into gold from other investment channels, including stocks,” Hinh said.

Friday’s tumble saw large-cap stocks decline sharply after they had strived to recover in the past month.

The blue chip tracker VN 三0-Index plunged  三. 五0 per cent to  七 七 二. 二 九 points while the VN 三0 futures maturing on August  二0 dipped  四.0 三 per cent to  七 九 七. 一0 points.

Other VN 三0 futures maturing in September and December of  二0 二0 and March  二0 二 一 lost between  三. 三 八 per cent and  三. 八0 per cent.

All  三0 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity in the large-cap basket declined, led by construction firm Coteccons (CTD), VPBank (VPB), jewellery firm PNJ (PNJ) and insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH).

Others such as PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), HDBank (HDB), steel producer Hoa Phat (HPG) and retailer Mobile World Investment (MWG) also finished in the red.

The sell-off also spread to mid-cap and small-cap groups as the two sector indices plu妹妹eted  三. 六 五 per cent and  三. 八 九 per cent, respectively.

Friday’s fall confirmed the VN-Index had lost the support of  八 五0 points, which had been consolidated for the last week, MB Securities Co (MBS) said in its daily report.

There could be some technical recoveries in the coming days if investors looked for bargains, the company said.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the minor HNX-Index descended by  三. 九 八 per cent to finish Friday at  一0 九. 三 三 points.

The northern market index has declined by total  五. 八 二 per cent in the last three days and totalled a weekly loss of  六. 四0 per cent.

Nearly  五 七 五 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ 八. 一 九 trillion (US$ 三 五 三. 三 million).

Foreign investors net-bought total VNĐ 二 七 二. 八 billion worth of local shares. They net-sold VNĐ 八 六. 四 billion worth of shares on Thursday. — VNS