Vietnamese stocks fell on Thursday on record low liquidity as many investors were hesitant to jump on board although there is a decline in stock valuations.
The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) closed the day at 1,058.45 points, a decrease of 0.15 per cent.
The market's sentiment was negative with more stocks decreasing, of which 131 stocks inched higher and 287 reduced.
Liquidity hit a 2-year low with more than 398.3 million shares traded, equivalent to a value of VND8.4 trillion (US$342.6 million).
“Investors remained cautious, cash flow stayed out of the market, even though the prices of stocks reached low levels,” said financial news site cafef.vn.
The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index posted a loss of 0.04 per cent, to finish Thursday at 1,053.26 points. Of the VN30 basket, 14 stocks climbed, while 14 declined and two ended flat.
Banking stocks saw mixed results, with losers including Techcombank (TCB), Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (STB), Military Bank (MBB) and Vietnam International Bank (VIB).
Gainers, meanwhile, were Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), and Vietinbank (CTG), VPBank (VPB), Tien Phong Bank (TPB) and Lien Viet Post Bank (LPB).
Some large-caps still performed positively, with the biggest gainers in the VN-30 basket being FPT Corporation (FPT), rising 3 per cent.
In Q3 of 2022, FPT recorded revenue of VND30.98 trillion, profit before tax of VND5.6 trillion, up by 24.1 per cent and 23.8 per cent, respectively over the same period last year, completing 73 per cent and 74.4 per cent of the planned target for annual revenue and profit.
The liquidity continued to drop. Although bottom-fishing force appeared at 1,050, market sentiment was still hesitant as the index entered the resistance zone of 1,060-1,070, said BIDV Securities Co.
Regarding foreign trade, they net sold on the HoSE and net bought on the HNX. They net sold VND82.22 billion on HOSE, including Hoa Phat Group (HPG) with VND185.25 billion, SSI Securities Inc (SSI) with VND36.01 billion, PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) with VND28.26 billion. They were net buyers on HNX with a value of VND21.44 billion.
On a sector basis, 17 out of 25 sector indices on the stock market lost ground, including insurance, wholesale, construction, logistics, agriculture, real estate, retail, seafood production, construction materials, securities, rubber production, and plastic and chemical production.
Gainers, meanwhile, included banking, oil and gas, IT, food and beverage, and healthcare.
The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) also ended lower. The northern market index declined 0.89 per cent, to close at 225.88 points.
More than 32.3 million shares were traded on the HNX, worth VND615.6 billion. — VNS