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Shares mixed on profit-taking pressure

An investor walks past electronic boards showing share prices at Tân Việt Securities Inc’s trading floor in Hà Nội. — VNS Photo Đoàn Tùng

HÀ NỘI – Shares extended gains on the HCM Stock Exchange on Thursday but corrected down on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange given stronger profit-taking pressure.

In HCM City, the benchmark VN-Index added 0. 三 四 per cent to close at  七 二 二.0 二 points. The Index gained over  二 per cent in the last five sessions and has expanded  八. 六 per cent this year.

On the Hà Nội bourse, the HNX-Index sank for the first time in the last four trades, edging down 0. 三 三 per cent to end at  八 九. 五 二 points. The northern market index has climbed  一 一. 七 per cent since December  三0,  二0 一 六.

Banks continued to be the major support for the market.

Five of nine listed banks on the two main exchanges advanced and only two declined.

Sacombank (STB) was the biggest gainer, up  四. 三 per cent, after the bank reported its pre-tax profits increasing  五0 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter.

The three largest lenders – BIDV (BID), Vietcombank (VCB) and Vietinbank (CTG) – grew between  一. 二- 二. 三 per cent each. Profits of these banks all surpassed VNĐ 二 trillion (US$ 八 八 million) in the first three months of this year.

Many large-cap stocks in the VN 三0 basket which tracks the top  三0 shares by market value and liquidity on the HCM Stock Exchange also advanced on information of high dividend payment, such as Vinamilk (VNM), steelmakers Hòa Phát Group and Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and food producer Kido Group (KDC).

On the defensive side, some blue chips remained in a downward cycle including real estate developers VinGroup (VIC) and Novaland Investment Group (NVL), brewery Sabeco (SAB), food producer Masan Group (MSN), PetroVietnam Drillings and Well Service (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS).

“After five straight sessions of rallying, the VN 三0 Index is approaching the strong resistance at  六 八 五- 六 九0, the boundary deciding whether the VN-Index surpasses medium-term peak at  七 二0”, stock analyst Trần Đức Anh at Bảo Việt Securities Co wrote in Thursday’s market report.

Anh maintained a cautious view on market outlook and suggests investors make short-term trading or reduce stock exposure below the moderate level.

Trading volume decreased slightly on Thursday, totaling nearly  二 六 八 million shares worth a combined VNĐ 五. 二 trillion ($ 二 二 九 million) in the two markets. These figures were still  二 四. 四 per cent and  二 二. 四 per cent higher than the average daily trading volume and value of last week.

Foreign investors returned as net buyers in HCM City’s market on Thursday for a modest net value of VNĐ 五 五 billion while they extended their net buying streak to four sessions in a row with a net value of VNĐ 三. 八 billion, up  一 六0 per cent over Wednesday’s value on Hà Nội’s exchange. – VNS