VN-Index edges higher in quiet trading session

The index stayed in the red for most of the day but started to rise within the last trading hour. It closed in the green for the third straight session, gaining 0.88 points.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange fell 7.55 percent to VND12.79 trillion ($552.4 million), much lower than the daily average of VND22.3 trillion last month.

Major Asian markets closed in the red Monday, with China’s Hang Seng Index losing 2.8 percent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 1.9 percent, tracking Wall Street’s worst trading day since June 2020.

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 18 tickers drop, led by TPB of private lender TPBank with a 3.26-percent plunge.

It was followed by PDR of real estate developer Phat Dat, down 3.2 percent, and PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex, down 2.2 percent.

CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk ended their winning streak, both losing 1.9 percent.

Eight blue chips closed in the green, with MSN of conglomerate Masan Group closing at ceiling price for the third time in a row, gaining 7 percent.

HDB of HCMC-based lender HDBank rose 1.25 percent, and POW of Petrovietnam Power climbed 1.19 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of VND132.70 billion, focusing on HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat and SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities.

The HNX-Index at the Hanoi Stock Exchange, where mid and small caps list, was down 1.82 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market lost 0.16 percent.