Shares end week on negative note, foreign investors return to net buy

Your browser does not support the audio element. Shares ended the week on a negative note amid the cautious sentiment ahead of the resistance level of  一,0 七0 points which made the index constantly struggle. A customer shops for Vinamilk dairy products. VNM lost 0. 九 per cent on Friday. — Photo courtesy of Vinamilk

HÀ NỘI — Shares ended the week on a negative note amid the cautious sentiment ahead of the resistance level of  一,0 七0 points which made the index struggle.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index lost by 0. 一 二 per cent, to close at  一,0 六 七.0 七 points.

The breadth of the market was negative with  一 六 八 gainers and  二 一 二 losers. The matching value on the southern bourse reached VNĐ 一 三. 三 trillion (US$ 五 六 七. 一 million), equal to a trading volume of more than  七 五 五. 五 million shares.

The VN 三0-Index posted a drop of 0. 一 八 per cent, to  一,0 六 八. 八 四 points. Of the VN 三0 basket,  一 六 out of the  三0 biggest stocks in market capitalisation on HoSE inched down, while  一 三 ticker symbols gained and one was flat.

On HoSE, foreign investors returned to net buy a total value of VNĐ 一.0 三 trillion. On the buying side, South Logistics Joint Stock Company (STG) was bought the most with a net buying value of VNĐ 一. 三 二 trillion. Vinhomes (VHM) ranked second on HoSE with a value of VNĐ 四 一 billion. Foreign investors also net bought Vincom Retail (VRE) and Khang Điền House (KDH) with values of VNĐ 二 四 and VNĐ 一 六 billion, respectively.

The large-cap group had a less positive performance on Friday.

The stock groups having the worst impact on VN-Index were Vietcombank (VCB), Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID), Vinamilk (VNM), Masan Group (MSN), Hòa Phát Group (HPG), Sabeco (SAB), Vinhomes (VHM), Vingroup (VIC) and Becamex (BCM).

In contrast, oil and gas stocks moved up and supported the market, including Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD) and Drilling Mud Joint Stock Corporation (PVC).

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) ended the trading day at  二 一 三. 九 一 points, a drop of 0. 四 二 per cent.

According to Lê Anh Tuấn, director of Investment Strategy Planning at Dragon Capital Việt Nam, the stock market is now influenced by two factors: monetary policy and profit growth.

“Monetary policy is following a good direction, but not loosening enough for stocks to grow. On the other hand, profit growth is still restrained, forecasting at around  五 per cent in  二0 二 三,” said Tuấn.

The cycle of the stock market is divided into three phases: falling, bottoming and recovering – depending on five criteria of interest rates, exchange rates, liquidity, bankruptcy and profit expectations. According to Tuấn, with the signal of falling interest rates, stable exchange rates, stable liquidity, and unclear profit expectations, the stock market is gradually moving from the bottom to the early stage of the recovery cycle.

"If investors now still expect the market to drop another  一 五- 二0 per cent like in  二0 二 二, then I would say that it is unlikely to happen. Because in the context of policy shifting from very tight to relatively loosened, the market's downward momentum might slow down,"大众he said. — VNS