VN-Index stable due to rising selling force

Beer production line of Sabeco. The brewer’s shares rose more than 1 per cent on Monday, cushioning the selling pressure. — Photo sabeco.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — The selling pressure weighed on the market in the first trading day of the week, with the benchmark VN-Index being stable while foreign investors net sold on two main exchanges.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index merely changed on Monday, trading at 1,175.69 points. The index fell 0.49 per cent last week.

The index opened the afternoon session with bullish sentiment as it maintained in green since the beginning of the session. However, selling force appeared and pushed the index down closer to the reference level until the end of the trading day. 

The breadth of the market was neutral as 154 stocks increased and 159 inched lower. Liquidity slightly improved from the previous session, with the trading value on the southern market up 11 per cent to nearly VNĐ14.3 trillion (US$582.4 million). 

In contrast, the VN30-Index that tracks the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE declined 3.65 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 1,179.17 points. In the VN30 basket, 14 stocks decreased while 11 advanced and five stayed flat. 

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) also finished lower at 229.05 points, down 0.38 points, or 0.17 per cent. More than 53.8 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ915 billion. 

Data compiled by a financial website vietstock.vn showed that Vietcombank (VCB) was the biggest loser today, down 0.87 per cent in the market capitalisation. 

It was followed by other pillars, of which Hòa Phát Group (HPG) dropped 1.23 per cent, BIDV (BID) lost 0.61 per cent, Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) tumbled 1.33 per cent, Vincom Retail (VRE) was down 1.89 per cent and Vinhomes (VHM) fell 0.48 per cent. 

The market pared losses on gains of some large-cap stocks, which led by Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR). Shares of the rubber producer slid 4.9 per cent. 

Others witnessing positive performances were PV Gas (GAS), Vietinbank (CTG), MBBank (MBB), Sabeco (SAB) and PetroVietnam Cà Mau Fertiliser JSC (DCM). All the stocks gained 0.62-4.05 per cent. 

Also pressuring the sentiment, foreign investors net sold a total of nearly VNĐ140 billion on the two main exchanges. In particular, they net sold VNĐ135.68 billion on HoSE and VNĐ4 billion on HNX. — VNS