The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched down 0.3 per cent to close at 603.34 points. — VNS Photo Doan Tung

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese shares were mixed on the two local exchanges yesterday amid fears that possible delays to the US finalising the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will keep local exporters from deeper globally integration.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched down 0.3 per cent to close at 603.34 points while the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange inched up 0.3 per cent to end at 81.36 points.

On the negative side, the finalisation of the trade agreement TPP, which involves 12 countries such as Viet Nam, the US and Japan, may get delayed until next November as some US politicians have shown less support for it.

This information had a negative impact on some of Viet Nam's exporting industries such as fishery companies and machinery firms.

The fishery firms index and the machinery producers index yesterday inched down 0.7 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.

The biggest companies in these two sectors, such as Viet Duc Welding Electrode Company (QHD) fell 1.3 per cent, Mekong Fisheries Company (AAM) fell 4.6 per cent and fishery Hung Vuong Corporation (HVG) dropped 1.4 per cent.

Food and beverage producer Vinamilk (VNM) and property developer FLC Group (FLC) fell for a second day after investors continued to sell them to earn profits.

VNM gained more than 10 per cent during the five sessions before Tuesday and FLC surged 13.5 per cent in the previous four days. FLC was also the most active stock with more than 12 million shares traded.

In addition, the banking sector ended slightly lower as Viet Nam's central bank yesterday asked local banks to maintain interest rates in order to avoid destabilising market prices from now to Tet holidays, Sai Gon Ha Noi Securities Corporation (SHS) wrote in a report.

Therefore, local banks could earn less revenue from interest in the next few months. Among nine listed banks, Vietinbank (CTG) and Sacombank (STB) fell 0.5 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively, while other big banks such as Vietcombank (VCB) and BIDV (BID) were flat.

On the positive side, plastic and rubber firm stocks rose as these companies benefited from lower global oil prices, which helped them reduce production and distribution costs.

The US benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on Tuesday fell 2.6 per cent to trade at US$40.67 a barrel and the Brent crude dropped 2.2 per cent to trade at $43.57 a barrel.

The strongest gainers among those producers included Rang Dong Plastic Company (RDP), which surged 6.8 per cent, Binh Minh Plastic Company (BMP), which jumped 3 per cent, and Sao Vang Rubber Company (SRC), which rose 5.3 per cent.

The two local bourses exchanged nearly 166 million shares, worth VND2.9 trillion ($129 million), a decrease of 17.5 per cent from Tuesday. — VNS