Investors watch market moves at Royal Securities Company. The local market is forecast to stay little changed this week on weak investor sentiment. — VNA/VNS Photo Tuan Anh

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Shares appear to stay steady this week as investors remain cautious on lack of positive business news in both domestic and international markets, securities companies and analysts said.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange finished last week at 682.25 points, up 0.4 per cent week on week, after making a two-day increase of 1.3 per cent to bounce back from a five-day decline of 2.2 per cent.

The HNX Index on the minor Ha Noi Stock Exchange rose nearly 1 per cent in the last two sessions after falling 3.8 per cent in the previous five sessions to close the week at 83.04 points, up 1.4 per cent from the previous trading week.

The energy sector was the worst hit, with the weekly fall of major stocks such as PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corp (PVD) as oil prices closed Friday at a four-week low of US$48.70 a barrel for US crude West Texas Intermediate and $49.71 a barrel for Brent crude.

Oil and gas stocks may also have some negative trading days this week as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other world oil producers ended a Saturday meeting without reaching a specific deal on production cuts and some producers have already targeted higher outputs for next year.

Banks also had a gloomy week after the Government turned on the green light for the bankruptcy of weak-performing banks, BIDV Securities Company said in a note. Decliners included Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID), Vietinbank (CTG) and Eximbank (EIB).

"Through market observation, the bottom picking during all five trading sessions was weak when the VN Index was around the level of 670 points, proving that investors remained unwilling to make investments at the moment," said Ngo The Hien, head of market analysis at Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities Corp.

After two positive days finishing at 682.25 points, the VN Index could test the level of 685 points and 690 points, however, the money would only target some stocks that were secure enough, he said.

"The mid-term uptrend was secured after the VN Index succeeded to stay above 672 points last week. However, market trading liquidity declined compared to the previous weeks as investor confidence was low," Tran Minh Hoang, head of the macroecomic analysis division at Vietcombank Securities Company, said.

Last week's daily trading market liquidity was lower than the previous one's, with an average of nearly 151 million shares being traded in each session worth VND2.4 trillion ($106.6 million), a weekly decrease of 14 per cent and 17.5 per cent.

Investors are likely to keep their portfolios little changed on worries the VN Index would not be able to conquer the mark of 690 points in the near future and on third-quarter earnings reports that have not created significant effects on the market, he said.

"International events could also pose some risks on the local stock market, especially the US Presidential election, which will affect US policies on the international markets and trade agreements," Hoang said. — VNS