Stocks trod water on the HCM City Stock Exchange on Thursday, with the VN-Index closing off a mere 0.2 per cent to 524.64 points. The value of the day's trades also dropped by 15 per cent from the previous day's total to VND2.2 trillion (US$115.2 million), as volume also slipped by 10 per cent to just over 51 million shares.
"The loss of value by such market leaders as Vinamilk (VNM), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and other financial blue chips in the final minutes of trading is regarded as the main reason for the drop in the VN-Index," said FPT Securities Company analysts in their daily report.
Sacombank (STB) held the position as the most-active share, with nearly 2.6 million traded. The HCM City market yesterday also welcomed the listing of 8 million shares by Information and Networking Technology Company (CMT). CMTclosed unchanged at VND50,000 ($2.6) on a volume of 82,450 shares.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also closed down by a modest 0.32 per cent to 171.54 points. Trading volume fell by nearly 30 per cent to 27.2 million shares, worth a combined VND937.7 billion ($49.1 million), off 27 per cent from Wednesday's value.
Except for construction giant Vinaconex (VCG) and shares in the Song Da family, other blue chips all lost value on the Ha Noi market, including Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Kim Long Securities Company (KLS), PetroVietnam Construction (PVX), and Sai Gon-Ha Noi Commercial Bank (SHB).
KLS continued to be the most-active share, with nearly 4.6 million traded.
Corrective sessions were inevitable after many recent days of gains and were healthy for the market, said analysts.
"When there is no new economic information, shares rise and fall solely based on the supply-and-demand relation," said Hoa Binh Securities Company Deputy Director Nguyen Huy Duong.
Investors were also being more careful and making investment decisions based on specific supporting information about particular companies, causing different shares to show spikes in activity each session, Duong said.
Brokerages were advising new investors to take advantage of the current correction to participate in the market and encouraging existing investors to rearrange their portfolios.
Foreign investors continued to be net buyers by value yesterday, acquiring a net of VND2.75 billion ($144,000) worth of shares on the HCM City bourse, but were net sellers by volume of 618,420 shares. On the Ha Noi bourse, they were responsible for a net buy of just 392,900 shares.