Modest declines by blue chips on the HCM City Stock Exchange on Thursday restrained the rising trend of the VN-Index, which closed off 0.21 percent on the day to 533.34 points.
The value of the day’s trades on the HCM City Stock Exchange rose to VND3.41 trillion (US$182.4 million), 7.2 percent higher than in the previous session, on a volume of nearly 74.3 million shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners by 104-72, while 27 codes remained unchanged.
Sacombank (STB) was the most active share, responsible for 3.16 million traded. Seafood stocks such as Aquatex Ben Tre (ABT), Agifish (AGF) and Hung Vuong Corp (HVG) all saw gains on the day.
"The market has grown by over 30 percent since mid-December, so some profit-taking is normal," said Nguyen Trong Nghia, Director of Analysis for Thang Long Securities Company.
Nghia said the market would see one or two more corrective sessions before rising again.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index yesterday fell for a second day, losing another 0.9 percent to close at 177.95.
Trading value stood high at VND1.33 trillion ($71.1 million) on a total volume of 36.68 million shares. Kim Long Securities (KLS) claimed the position as most heavily-traded share on the northern bourse with 4.16 million changing hands.
The Ha Noi market yesterday welcomed a listing of nearly 6 million shares by Thanh Thanh Ceramic (TTC). At the end of the first trading day, TTC closed at VND10,200 ($0.54) on a volume of just 8,800 shares.
Though a great volume of sell order was placed by investors motivated by profit-taking, increasing demand was strong enough to absorb those shares, manifesting stable investor confidence in a rising market uptrend, confirmed by technical analysis of basic indicators, said analysts of Viet Nam International Securities Company.
They continued to predict that the VN-Index would range up to 600 points in the first quarter.
Foreign investors returned to being net sellers on the HCM City market yesterday, responsible for a net sell of 38,100 shares worth nearly VND47.5 billion ($2.5 million). But they were still net buyers on the Ha Noi market of 419,300 shares, worth VND19 billion ($1 million).