The
HCM City Stock Exchange resumed trading
yesterday after a three-day halt caused by what exchange officials identified
as a technical error.



The
VN-Index immediately returned to its old ways, however, losing another 6.41
points, or 1.52 per cent, to close at 414.1. Volume continued anaemic, at only
4.7 million shares, for a total value of VND174.9 billion (US$10.93 million).







Foreign
investors accounted for 1.57 million shares of the total volume.







"
I have no patience to take risks playing the market now despite my heavy loss
position," said domestic investor Le Quynh Chi, who works at a commercial
bank and was voicing a predominate attitude among domestic stock traders.







"I
just want to barter my shares away as soon as possible," said Chi.







Many
investors sat on their hands, waiting for a loosening of the daily trading band
discussed on Thursday in a meeting between the Viet Nam Association of
Securities Businesses and its member companies.







With
the market now having seen a month without a day’s gain, some were calling on
companies to buy back shares to stabilise the market, but this solution seemed
impracticable, said analysts, due to the huge quantity of outstanding shares.







About
37 companies listed on the HCM
City bourse, and a
comparable figure in Ha Noi, have bought back nearly 10 million shares, but the
result seems to only have been to the detriment of their shareholders.







Real
estate developer Vincom (VIC), for instance, bought back 1.2 million shares in
April at a high price of VND93,000 per share. By yesterday, despite VIC
becoming the day’s most active share at a volume of 533,000, VIC shares had hit
their floor price of VND73,000.







"Buying
back shares with the aim to shore up prices is only effective when there is a
stable market, contrary to our situation," opined analyst Dinh The Hien.







In
yesterday’s trading, the HCM City market saw only five gainers on the day while
another 144 codes hit their floor prices, including active blue chips Hau Giang
Phamarteucials (DHG) and Vinamilk (VNM), which closed at VND156,000 and
VND110,000 per share, respectively.







Chang
Yih Ceramic (CYC) gave new meaning to the term penny stock when it passed a
milestone of sorts, ending the day at VND9,900, VND100 lower than its par
value.







Despite
the gloom pervading the domestic stock market, Japan’s New S Securities still
expressed its confidence this week in the VN-Index though the end of year.



In
Ha Noi yesterday, the HASTC-Index closed down 1.41 points, or 1.17 per cent, to
119.31. There were 27 gainers and 81 losers.







Trading
volume was over 2.6 million shares, down 15 per cent against the previous day,
for a total value of VND63.7 billion ($3.98 million).







Foreign
investors continued to largely ignore the northern bourse, becoming net buyers
of only 30,000 shares.