Shares on the HCM City Stock Exchange once again trod water on Monday, with the VN-Index closing up just 0.07 percent to 531.86 points on fairly brisk trading.
Market value totalled VND2.3 trillion (US$84.3 million) on a volume of 55.3 million shares.
Sacombank (STB) was the most-active share on the day, with 2.8 million traded, as banking shares once again became the focus of heavy selling activity, putting the brakes on any advance by the VN-Index, said Nguyen Kim Thu, a broker with a Ha Noi-based securities firm.
"These shares promised profits after a long period of recent gains, so today's sell-off was reasonable," Thu said.
Due to the pressures from profit-taking, Au Viet Securities Company analysts predicted more market corrections before the VN-Index reached the resistance mark of 545 points. But they remained optimistic for market prospects due to brisk trading volumes.
The Director of Sacombank Securities Co's research and private equity department, Nguyen Huy Cuong, said that investors this week would be keeping an eye on the expected release of inflation figures for HCM City and Ha Noi during the past month.
A relatively low CPI would solve a lot of problems, creating not only optimism for investors but also stimulating the State Bank of Viet Nam to loosen monetary policy, promoting the liquidity of the banking system, Cuong said.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange yesterday, the HNX-Index was unable to resist the forces of profit-taking, dropping by a hair to 173.32 points. Daily value remained high, however, at over VND1.2 trillion ($55 million), on a volume of 35.85 million shares.
PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) led the northern market, with over 5 million shares traded, closing up yesterday by 1.15 per cent to VND26,000 per share, thanks to media reports that PetroVietnam Construction and Investment, a subsidiary of PetroVietnam Construction, had won the contract for two shopping centre projects in Ha Noi worth a total of VND350 billion.
Meanwhile, foreign investors were net buyers yesterday on both stock exchanges, responsible for a combined volume of 1.24 million shares.