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Investors
continue to bail from the jittery stock market, pushing the VN-Index of
154 listed stocks on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange down by 5.58
points, or 1.41 percent, to close at 390.08.

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The benchmark index fell for the 21st straight session.
Market liquidity remained low Thursday as a mere 1.3 million shares were exchanged.


Of the index members, 140 fell and eight climbed.


“There
is no information strong enough to enliven the market,’’ Bloomberg
quoted Le Ba Hoang Quang, the Hanoi-based head of research at the
securities unit of Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank Joint Stock Co.,
as saying.


But there are many investors holding small shares who are wondering whether now is the time to cash in.


“Many
share prices have fell close to the preference price of VND10,000, so I
think it’s a perfect time to start to buy,” Quang said.


The
acting general director of Prudential Vietnam Fund Management Company,
Pham Ngoc Bich, said market share prices offer gilt-edged investment
opportunities and investors will regret wasting the chance in two years
if they don’t start to buy now.


“I
think it’s going to be difficult to call a bottom line,” said Leslie
Phang, who helps oversee US$275 billion as Singapore-based head of
investments at Schroders Plc’s private-clients unit, in a Bloomberg
Television Interview.


“This is about whether you have confidence in the dong and whether the dong actually will continue to depreciate.


So people lose confidence in the currency and at the same time lose confidence in the government.


It’s up to the central bank and whether they can turn this situation around.


“The
market is relatively illiquid so when institutional investors sell off,
it causes a domino [effect], like an avalanche, so it’s looking pretty
dismal and we wouldn’t be bargain-hunting at this point.”


Among Thursday’s winners we restocks in building material, foodstuff, technology, hotel and property sectors.


Foreign investors continued to stock up on shares, pumping in VND3.7 billion ($226,840).


Their
preferred stocks include Saigon Telecommunication and Technologies
Corporation, Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment Joint Stock
Company, PetroVietnam Tourism and Services Joint Stock Company,
Hanoi-based property company Vincom and Ha Tien Transport Joint Stock
Company.


Hanoi’s stock exchange remained gloomy, with the HASTC-Index slipping 1.95 points, or 1.72 percent, to finish at 111.65.




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