The HCM City Stock Exchange rallied yesterday, with the VN-Index gaining 3.98 percent to end the first day of the new trading week at 460.99 points.
The value of the day’s trades dropped by 35.5 percent from Friday’s total, however, reaching just VND1.27 trillion (US$68.6 million), on a volume of 34.16 million shares.
The driving force in yesterday’s session was shares in securities companies, all of which hit their ceiling prices, noted FPT Securities Co analysts in their daily report. But a large number of investors were also just sitting out the session, waiting on higher prices before selling and contributing to the depressed trading volume.
Bigger jump
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index jumped by an even more substantial 4.94 percent yesterday to close at 150.34, with gainers outnumbering decliners by 242-3.
But trading volume also fell slightly on the northern bourse to 14.85 million shares, worth a combined VND406.78 billion ($22 million). Construction giant Vinaconex (VCG) continued to be the most heavily-traded share with over 1.4 million changing hands.
Last Friday’s modest rally helped boost investor confidence coming into the new week, said an analyst from Dai Viet Securities Company who asked to remain anonymous. Although the risk factors threatening the market still existed, the hard fall of many sound shares recently had made them profitable for investment, triggering the bottom-catching sentiment in many investors, he noted.
"The market has dropped by 30 percent from its peak of 630, the shares pledged as collateral have been sold, so continued concerns over a fire sale of other collateral shares are unfounded," said Saigon Securities Inc General Director Nguyen Duy Hung.
The market prices of many shares had returned to an attractive level, providing a large investment potential, said Hung, especially shares in companies little influenced by exchange rate fluctuations or interest rates.
"Based on my calculation of basic market indicators, now is a suitable time for mid- and long-term investment," said the director of the investment department of PetroVietnam Finance Company, Nguyen Viet Ha. "Brave investors who dare to go against the herd sentiment can succeed."
Foreign investors concluded yesterday as net buyers on both bourses. They were responsible for a net buy of nearly a million shares on the HCM City market, worth a net of VND47.7 billion ($2.6 million). On the Ha Noi bourse, they was net buyers of just 343,400 shares, worth a combined VND10.57 billion ($571,351).
Ha Noi saw three new listings, by Ha Giang Mineral Mechanics Company (HGM) and two affiliates of the Viet Nam Machinery Installation Corp (LILAMA), Lilama 5 (LO5) and Lilama 45.4 (L44).
HGM listed 6 million shares and closed unchanged at VND69,000 ($3.70) on a volume of 37,300 shares. Lo and L44 both closed down.