The bottom continued to drop out of the HCM City stock market on Thursday, with VN-Index plunging another 2.26 percent to close at 478.42.
The value of the day’s trades on the HCM City Stock Exchange reached VND1.79 trillion (US$95.2 million). While volume rose by 15.5 percent over the previous day to well over 40 million shares, decliners made up 87 percent of the market.
Sacombank (STB) was the most active share on the day, with over 2 million traded.
The market was now below the point at which it began the new year, reflecting the gloomy outlook of investors toward current economic policy, said VNDirect Securities Company analysts in a market forecast report.
Many investors were waiting for even lower prices, expecting the VN-Index to fall to around 450 points soon, the report said.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also slid by 2.12 percent to 157.64 points. The value of trades reached VND782.14 billion ($41.6 million), up 36 percent from the previous session, on a volume of 23.8 million shares.
Kim Long Securities (KLS) secured the position as the most-active share on both markets, with 4.2 million changing hands.
The State Bank of Viet Nam on Wednesday denied rumours of an impending increase in the prime rate, saying it lacked any grounds yet to do so.
Inflation was reported to rise by 1.27 percent in January in HCM City, 1.3 percent in Ha Noi, and it is estimated to reach 1.5 percent nationwide.
Investors, presented with mixed messages about the market, were becoming more cautious, said FPT Securities Company analysts.
However, foreign investors continued to be net buyers on both bourses yesterday. Their net buys grew by 52.6 per cent in volume to over 2.9 million shares, worth a combined net of VND126.2 billion ($6.7 million).