Vietnam stocks slip as Asian shares stabilized

The index closed 1.27 points lower after gaining 11.50 points in the previous session.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased by 24% to VND15.61 trillion (US$626 million).

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 14 tickers fell.

HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk were the top losers, both went down 1.5%.

MBB of lender MB fell 1.4% and GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group closed 1.3% lower.

Twelve blue chips gained.

SSB of SeABank led with a 4.8% rise, followed by VRE of retail real estate arm Vincom Retail, up 4.2%.

TCB of the largest private lender Techcombank increased by 1.6% and CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank closed 1.2% higher.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of VND472 billion. They mainly net sold CTG and HPG.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 0.02%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went up 0.01%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was mostly flat.

European shares opened slightly higher, with the STOXX 600 index gaining 0.3%, helped by retail after a subdued session for Asian indexes.