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| Investors at Saigon Securities Inc's trading floor in Ha Noi. The VN-Index ended a three-day rally yesterday with a drop of 0.7 per cent. — VNS Photo Viet Thanh |
HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Shares ended lower yesterday on the two stock exchanges as banks and real estate companies led decliners.
On the HCM Stock Exchange, the benchmark VN-Index dropped 0.7 per cent to close the session at 590.5 points, putting the brakes on the three-day rally. The Index increased 0.3 per cent on Monday.
"The VN-Index climbed from 550 points to almost 600 points in two months and it was due for a pullback," said Tran Van Quy, an analyst at FPT Securities Co. Quy predicted the Index would likely move sideways around 590 to 600 points in the coming sessions.
Banks and real estate companies, which have been leading the market higher, were the biggest decliners. Sacombank (STB) fell 3.4 per cent while other banks like Vietinbank (CTG), Military Bank (MBB) and Vietcombank (VCB) decreased more than 1 per cent.
Among real estate stocks, Tan Tao Investment Industry Corp (ITA), HCM City Infrastructure (CII), Kinh Bac City Development (KBC), Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG) and FLC Group (FLC) dropped between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.
FLC was the most active stock yesterday with 6.9 million shares, declining 2.8 per cent to close at VND7,000 a share.
Insurers were bright spots in yesterday's trading. Large insurance companies like Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Bao Minh Insurance Corp (BMI), PVI Holdings (PVI), BIDV Insurance Corp (BIC) and Petrolimex Insurance Corp (PGI) jumped between 3 per cent and 7 per cent each.
The State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC), the Government's investment arm, plans to sell its entire 51 per cent stake in Bao Minh Insurance, which was worth almost US$48 million yesterday.
Overall liquidity increased yesterday. The market volume rose 18 per cent over Monday to reach over 127 million shares while value of trades was almost VND2.3 trillion ($102.7 million), higher than September's average of over 94 million shares and VND1.6 trillion ($71.4 million).
On the smaller bourse in Ha Noi, the HNX-Index slipped 0.5 per cent to finish at 81 points with nearly 43 million shares worth VND514 billion ($23 million) being traded by the end of the session. — VNS