The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange rose 0.1 per cent last Friday to close at 593.02 points. The VN Index last week gained 0.9 per cent. — VNS Photo Doan Tung

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The market may decline during early sessions this week due to a lack of supporting information and positive news, according to reports.

The decline, however, is not expected to continue over the long-term, Bao Viet Securities Corporation (BVSC) wrote in its weekly report.

Therefore, investors may increase their selling after the benchmark VN Index raised the near-resistance to 600 points, BVSC said.

Further, the VN Index could rise to 605-610 points or fall to 580-585 points, BVSC said.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange rose 0.1 per cent last Friday to close at 593.02 points. The VN Index last week gained 0.9 per cent.

Also, the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange ended last week at 81.18 points, a slight increase of 0.04 per cent. Overall, the HNX Index jumped 0.5 per cent last week.

The most influential market news last week was on Tuesday, with reports that the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) would reduce State capital in some listed companies, including Vinamilk (VNM), FPT Corporation (FPT), Binh Minh Plastics JSC (BMP) and Bao Minh Insurance Corporation (BMI).

That information helped increase the value of these stocks on the market during the week. VNM rose 4.7 per cent, FPT was up 2 per cent, BMP surged 9.9 per cent and BMI jumped 6 per cent from the previous week.

Other stocks, however, such as Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Traphaco (TRA), DHG Pharmaceutical JSC (DHG) and Domesco Medical Import Export Corporation (DMC), saw a poor trading week as the SCIC maintains State ownership in those companies.

At the end of the week, BVH fell 5 per cent, TRA dropped 1.2 per cent, DHG remained flat and DMC inched down 0.3 per cent.

The information about SCIC and the State capital in those companies would not likely continue to effect the market when those companies begin selling their State ownership, BVSC noted.

The banking sector would likely be able to attract foreign investments after the Government issued Decree 91 last Tuesday, declaring that State-owned enterprises would not be allowed to make investments in the banks as of December this year, and it was also proposed last Wednesday to reduce capital in the three largest banks on the market, including the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID) and Vietinbank (CTG) and Vietcombank (VCB).

However, the Government would not likely reduce its capital in these three banks in the near future, as domestic investors were not strong enough to make investments in banks, which require enormous amounts of capital for operating, while foreign investors were having problems with policies on foreign ownership in Vietnamese companies, BVSC said.

Therefore, at the end of the week, the banking sector index rose 0.8 per cent from the previous week, contributed by VCB and BID, as both inched up 0.4 per cent, along with CTG, which jumped 4.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, the two local exchanges traded more than 846 million shares during the week, which were valued at VND13.8 trillion (US$613.3 million), a decrease of 18.5 per cent in volume and 14.3 per cent in value from the previous week. — VNS