Money pours in from blue chips in Hanoi's market, VN-Index down (22/11/12)

[xiuchic]

Investment money poured in from several blue chips in Hanoi's stock market, helping lift the index here, while sluggish trading dragged down the VN-Index on the HCM City exchange.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose by a modest 0.29 per cent to close this morning's session at 51.56 points, but overall trading value was still low, reaching just VND43.6 billion (US$2.1 million).

Three codes dominated the short-term transactions. Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) saw 2.15 million shares change hands, making it the most active code nationwide this morning. Real estate company Sacomreal (SCR) and Hanoi Investment General Corp (SHN) both saw more than 1 million shares traded. While SHN closed flat, the other two companies jumped 2.4 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, half the codes on the HCM City Stock Exchange closed unchanged, making the benchmark VN-Index drop slightly to 383.57 points, off 0.08 per cent from yesterday's close.

Trading was very low with just 9.1 million shares, worth VND115.9 billion ($5.5 million), changing hands. The Military Bank, with about 411,000 shares traded, was the most active code on the southern bourse. MBB closed flat at VND12,100 a share.

Blue chips tumbled slightly with the VN30 tracking the top 30 shares on the bourse down 0.13 per cent to 452.30 points.

Trading will resume at 1pm.

[xiuchic]

Shares treading water on sluggish trading dragged down both national stock exchanges yesterday.

The VN-Index on the HCM City Stock Exchange gave up 0.17 per cent to close yesterday at 383.22 points with the value of trades halving from Wednesday's level, totalling just VND207.5 billion (US$9.9 million).

A lacklustre market with sluggish trading eroded investor confidence, according to analysts from the Maritime Bank Securities Co.

"Many large-cap and penny stocks fell, and the lack of buying interest from foreign investors made short-term trading become riskier," they wrote in a report.

Foreign investors concluded yesterday as net sellers on both exchanges, unloading combined shares worth VND5.7 billion ($273,000).

Half of the top 30 shares on the bourse were unchanged while nine codes declined and seven gained value, driving the VN30 down 0.14 per cent to 452.24 points.

No shares saw trades in excess of 1 million shares and three of the most active codes yesterday saw only about 700,000 shares changing hands. They included wood processor Duc Long Gia Lai (DLG), Military Bank (MBB) and Bac Giang Exploitable Mineral (BMG). MBB closed flat, while DLG rose 3 per cent and BMG jumped 4.7 per cent.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, increases of blue chips lifted the HNX-Index by 0.339 per cent to a close of 51.58 points by the end of yesterday's session.

Overall trading value was still low, however, totalling just VND91.94 billion (US$4.4 million).
Money focused on three codes, including Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB) on total trades of 3.4 million shares; real estate company Sacomreal (SCR), 2.75 million shares; and Ha Noi Investment General Corp (SHN), with over 1 million shares. While SHN closed flat, the other two companies jumped 2.4 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.