The Ho Chi Minh City stock market dropped Tuesday for
the sixth straight day, with the VNIndex sliding 9.24 points, or 3.4
percent, to close at 263.07, the lowest since September 12, 2005.


The index, a gauge of 172 firms and four closed-end funds, has lost more than 16 percent this year.


But turnover improved, with more than 10 million shares changing hands. Of the index members, 133 declined while 17 advanced.


“Investors dumped shares heavily as they are spooked
by the poor results of many listed firms. Their confidence was also hit
by the news that many companies, who fail to meet capital requirements,
will be moved to the smaller bourse in Hanoi,” Le Ba Hoang Quang, chief
of Sacombank Securities’ Research Department, told Dau Tu Chung Khoan
(Securities Investment) newspaper.


But he forecast the market to recover by year-end when the government’s stimulus package would begin to take effect.


Ken Tai, a technical analyst at Kim Eng Securities, calmed investors by saying he was seeing some opportunities in the market.


“The VN-Index is cheaper than markets like Malaysia,
China, India, Japan and Korea. It will bottom out at the end of this
year. The best time to get into the market is October,” he said Tuesday
at a presentation in HCMC.


Intraday performance


Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp. (REE)
closed 2.09 percent lower at VND18,700. The air-conditioner producer
said on the exchange’s website that its pretax profit for January was
VND20 billion (US$1.14 million), a year-on-year increase of 114.41
percent.


REE is among the stocks that have been placed on the exchange’s watch list after reporting a loss in 2008.


Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (STB),
partly owned by ANZ Bank, slipped 3.8 percent to VND15,200.
International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank Group,
reduced its stake in it to 4.66 percent by selling more than 8 million
shares out of 16 million it had registered, according to a statement on
the exchange’s website.


IFC could not sell the entire number because of the market’s falls, according to the statement.


Vinh Hoan Corp. (VHC) fell 4.88 percent to close at
VND19,500. The seafood firm said on the exchange’s website that a
significant shareholder, Red River Holding, bought 550,020 shares to
boost its holding to 6.9 percent.