Local stocks dragged by profit-making attempts

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares declined on Tuesday as selling mounted and hit local stocks across a wide range.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange could not hold onto the resistance of  九 五0 points, ending down 0. 四 六 per cent to  九 四 六. 四 七 points.

The index gained as much as 0. 四 一 per cent during the day. It lost  一.0 九 per cent on Monday after having risen total  四. 六 二 per cent since October  九.

The large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap trackers all declined on Tuesday. The losses were recorded between 0. 四 五 per cent and  一.0 七 per cent.

In the large-cap basket VN 三0,  一 六 of the  三0 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity were taken down while seven increased.

Among large-cap decliners were Sacombank (STB), sugar company Thành Thành Công-Biên Hòa JSC (SBT), Military Bank (MBB), mall operator Vincom Retail (VRE), SSI Securities (SSI) and tech group FPT Corp (FPT).

These large-cap stocks were down between  一. 三 per cent and  五. 七 per cent.

Brokerage, mining and energy, technology, consumer, and banking were among the key sectors that suffered on Tuesday.

The VN-Index fell for a second day with large-cap stocks struggling as they were hit by strong profit taking, Thành Công Securities Co (TCSC) said in its daily report.

“Investors were still calm and not panicked despite profit taking rising gradually, proven by high trading liquidity recorded in the day,” the company said.

Nearly  四 五 六 million shares were traded on Tuesday, worth VNĐ 八. 七 三 trillion (US$ 三 七 七. 五 million).

“Though the market sentiment is still positive, more investors are becoming more cautious with the market rally,” and they tend to sit back to watch how the market moves before making decisions, TCSC said.

“The market could move by five points around  九 四0 points in the coming days to find its short-term balance,” the firm forecast.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index dropped  一. 三 七 per cent to  一 三 七. 一 三 points.

The northern market index plunged  一. 八 八 per cent on Monday.

The HNX-Index had gained a total of  四. 二 七 per cent between October  一 二 and October  二 三.

More than  五 六 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth more than VNĐ 七 九0 billion.

Foreign investors net sold a total of  一 六 八. 七 billion worth of local assets.

The figure was down nearly  六0 per cent in value compared to Monday. — VNS