The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange continued to retreat on Friday over a heavy sell-off.


VN-Index of 181 leading shares fell for the second straight day, closing lower 5.3, or 1.68 percent, at 309.9.


Trading volume was 16.8 million shares worth VND614 billion as 135 stocks slumped, 31 advanced and 125 were unchanged.


Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Joint-Stock Co. (REE), a producer of air conditioners and electrical appliances, plunged 4.9 percent to VND29,100. It received approval from the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange to trade 879,647 additional shares that were granted as a bonus to the company’s employees last year, the exchange said on its Web site yesterday.


Thu Duc Housing Development Corporation (TDH) fell 1.17 percent to VND42,200. Pham Thi Xuan Lan, wife of chairman and chief executive Le Chi Hieu, bought 27,000 shares to boost her holdings to more than 209,000 on Monday, according to a report on the exchange’s Web site. Lan registered to buy 20,000 more shares before October 27, the bourse also said.


PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemical Joint-Stock Company (DPM) slipped 2.19 percent to VND35,700. The company, Vietnam’s biggest fertilizer producer, informed to the exchange that chief executive Phan Dinh Duc became a shareholder by buying 3,000 shares on April 14.


Among today’s winners was Dong Nai Plastic Joint-Stock Company (DNP), rising marginally 0.98 percent to VND10,300. Chief accountant Ha Huy Phuong registered to sell his entire holdings of 8,000 shares, or 0.23 percent, before June 1, according to a statement on the exchange’s Web site.


Seafood Joint-Stock Co. No. 4 (TS4), a seafood processor and property developer, surged 4.69 percent to close at VND13,400. The company said it has sold as much as half of the Orient Apartments project, Dau Tu Chung Khoan magazine reported yesterday, citing Chief Executive Nguyen Van Luc.


The company expects to earn about VND200 billion ($11.3 million) from the property, boosting its profit this year, the report said, without giving a figure.


Tan Tien Plastic Packing Joint-Stock Company (TTP) also increased sharply by 4.81 percent to VND28,300. The plastic pipe maker announced on the bourse’s Web site that it will pay VND1,500 dividend and go ex-dividend on May 4.


One of the company’s substantial shareholders, Citigroup, raised its stake from 5.95 percent to 6.25 percent by buying 46,000 shares on April 16, according to the exchange’s Web site.


At the smaller exchange in Hanoi, the HaSTC-Index of 181 stocks closed at 110.2, showing a fall of 3.41, or 3 percent.


Moc Lan


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