Investors follow transactions at VNDirect Securities Corporation in Ha Noi. — VNS Photo Viet Thanh

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The stock market will not see gains this week, due to uncertainty about the inflow of investments as investors enjoy the year-end holiday, resulting in lower market liquidity.

Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities Corporation (SHS) wrote in a report that market liquidity often lowers during the year-end period, compared to the average annual trading figure seen during the last five years.

However, investors should be prepared, as companies will announce their quarterly and yearly business performances and plans for next year after the holiday is over, SHS said.

In addition, local energy stocks will be the major focus this week as global oil prices were on an increasing trend last week and rose sharply from their eleven-year low, as US supply dropped and consumption increased due to the cold weather.

Last week, the US benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged 9.7 per cent to trade at US$38.10 per barrel before Christmas, and the Euro-based crude Brent rose 2.7 per cent to trade at $37.89 per barrel on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese shares were mixed Friday on the two local exchanges. The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange gained slightly, by 0.3 per cent, to close at 567.67 points after losing 2.2 per cent during the previous four days. Also, the southern index fell 0.1 per cent from the previous week.

Meanwhile, the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange inched down 0.3 per cent to finish at 78.09 points, pulling back from a small gain on Thursday. The northern index also fell 0.3 per cent from the previous week.

Foreign investors remained net sellers amid fears that a possible weakened dong next year will hurt their profitability in current stock assets, however, total foreign selling last week declined from the previous week.

The biggest stocks that saw strong foreign selling included dairy producers Vinamilk (VNM), steel maker Hoa Phat Group JSC (HPG), and brokerage VNDirect Securities Corporation (VND). VNM dropped 3.1 per cent over the week, HPG fell 3 per cent and VND declined by 5 per cent.

Meanwhile, energy stocks made gains on higher global oil prices. PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD) jumped 4.6 per cent from the previous week, while PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemicals Corporation (DPM) rose 2.6 per cent.

Other big stocks also recorded higher values on positive news about their businesses, including Masan Group (MSN) and Vingroup (VIC). MSN surged 5.6 per cent over the week, mainly because of its $1 billion deal with Thai beer producer Singha Beer International, and VIC gained 6 per cent after opening three more mega shopping centres throughout the country.

Other big stocks fluctuated strongly and were mixed at the end of last week, including Vietcombank (VCB), the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID) and Bao Viet Holdings (BVH). VCB gained 3.2 per cent, BID fell 4.2 per cent and BVH surged 5 per cent.

The stock market traded an average volume of more than 137 million shares each day, worth VND2 trillion ($89.4 million) – a decrease of one-third from the previous week's trading value. — VNS