Shares rise on HCM City, fall in Ha Noi on sluggish trading (5/7)

[xiuchic]

Shares closed higher on the HCM City stock exchange this morning but still declined on the Ha Noi bourse.

In HCM City, the benchmark VN-Index finished this morning's session at 411.03 points, 0.07 per cent higher than yesterday's close.

Market value was dry, totalling just VND298.6 billion (US$14.2 million), on a total volume of 300.7 million shares.

No stocks saw trades in excess of 1 million shares. Eximbank (EIB) with over 711,000 shares changing hands became the most active stock this morning, closing up 0.5 per cent at VND18,400 ($0.88) a share.

Blue chips were mixed. Amongst the top 30 shares by market capitalisation and liquidity, 10 climbed, five sank while others closed unchanged.

The VN30 Index rose 0.22 per cent to stand at 486.47 points.

However, decliners outnumbered advancers by 110-67 overall.

The pace of declines slowed on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, with the HNX-Index losing just 0.06 per cent this morning to a close of 68.04 points.

Trading value was a modest VND154.4 billion ($7.4 million) on a total volume of nearly 18.7 million shares.

Losers doubled gainers on the northern bourse.

VNDirect Securities Co (VND) was the most active share this morning on trades of nearly 3.8 million shares, rising 1.1 per cent to close at VND9,400 ($0.05) .

The afternoon session will resume at 1pm.

[xiuchic]

Increased buys towards the end of the trading day lifted shares on both of the nation's stock exchanges yesterday, putting the brakes on a three-day losing streak.
On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index concluded yesterday's session at 413.83 points, an increase of 0.75 per cent over the previous day. The value of trades rose by over 30 per cent to nearly VND464 billion (US$22 million), while volume was up 45 per cent to over 31.5 million shares.

Advancers outnumbered decliners by 152-63.

A number of shares which saw declines during morning trading bounced back by the afternoon. Amongst the 30 leading shares by market capitalisation and liquidity, 20 closed up. The few losers included steelmaker Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and commercial baker Kinh Do (KDC), with losses of 0.4 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

The VN30 Index gained 0.7 per cent to stand at 488.82 points.

Tan Tao Industry Investment Corporation (ITA), with a volume of 1.6 million shares, became the most-active code on the HCM City's exchange yesterday, leaping 3.13 per cent to end the day at VND6,600 per share.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also rose by over 2.5 per cent to finish yesterday at 69.81 points. Trading improved with market volume jumping nearly 58 per cent to 39.4 million shares, while the value of trades rose 49 per cent to VND336.4 billion ($16 million).

VNDirect Securities (VND), PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) and Habubank (HBB) all hit their ceiling prices. VND was also the most heavily-traded share yesterday with nearly 6.4 million changing hands before it closed at its ceiling price of VND9,900.

After a period of strong declines, weak stocks have been washed out and the bottom-feeding was increasing, Bao Viet Securities Co's analyst Nguyen Xuan Binh wrote in a research note.
"Our technical shows that the market could possibly recover in the next one or two sessions," Binh said.

Foreign investors were net buyers on both exchanges yesterday, picking up shares worth a combined VND10 billion ($476,000).