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| Investors follow stock market movements at Hoang Gia Securities's trading floor in Ha Noi. Vietnamese shares were mixed yesterday on the two local exchanges. — VNS Photo Truong Vi |
HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese shares were mixed yesterday on the two local exchanges, while foreign investors sold assets in blue chips fearing lower profits after the US Federal Reserve's rate hike last week.
The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched down 0.2 per cent to close at 566.90 points while the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange rose 0.6 per cent to end at 78.72 points.
Investors kept selling stocks assets after the US central bank made a rate hike last week, which would strengthen the US dollar against the Vietnamese dong, and require Viet Nam's central bank to further depreciate its currency to keep the economy attractive to foreign investors.
The official exchange rate yesterday was VND22,547 per dollar for local commercial banks while the unofficial market rate was VND22,750 per dollar.
Foreign investors yesterday sold assets in the biggest stocks, including dairy producer Vinamilk, energy firm PetroVietnam Gas Corporation, food and beverage producer Masan Group, and the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV).
At the end of yesterday, Vinamilk (VNM) lost 2.3 per cent, PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (GAS) fell 2.4 per cent, Masan Group (MSN) dropped sharply 4.2 per cent and BIDV (BID) was down 2.8 per cent.
Other big stocks that contributed to the market decline included Hoa Phat Group Joint Stock Company (HPG), Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) and FPT Corporation (FPT), which were down 1.3 per cent, 2.2 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
On the other side, the market was lifted by real-estate stocks, whose index rose 2.3 per cent as they were able to attract investors' attention.
The two biggest property developers Vingroup JSC (VIC) and FLC Group (FLC) jumped 3.8 per cent, Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corporation (KBC) surged 4.9 per cent and Tan Tao Investment Industrial JSC (ITA) gained 1.8 per cent.
Two of the biggest stocks, Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Vietcombank (VCB), also helped the market from dropping further. BVH gained 3 per cent and VCB rose 3.2 per cent.
The two local bourses traded more than 168 million shares worth VND2.5 trillion (US$111.5 million), a decrease of 15.5 per cent from last week's daily trading value. — VNS