The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange was down 0.9 per cent to close at 590.40 points. — VNS Photo Doan Tung

HA NOI ­(Biz Hub) — Vietnamese shares yesterday fell on both local exchanges as the banking sector dropped after the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) issued extra shares for trading.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange was down 0.9 per cent to close at 590.40 points and the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange inched down 0.2 per cent to finish at 81.90 points.

The banking sector index yesterday dropped 1.7 per cent, led by BID which is one of the biggest stocks on the market. The bank officially issued more than 607 million shares for trading on the market, pushing BID down 4.4 per cent to a three-month low at VND21,600 per share.

Share prices often fall after a company issues new shares because it dilutes the existing float. Among more than 607 million shares, nearly 337 million shares were issued as a part of the merger with the Mekong Housing Development Bank and more than 270 million shares were issued to raise the bank's capital.

After the share issuance, BIDV will have more than 3.4 billion shares on the market, worth nearly VND34.2 trillion ($1.52 billion).

Moreover, exporters in some industries such as the garment and textile industry, electronics sector, fishery exports, metals production and construction materials producers revealed a drop in their export values during first half of this month, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

GSO said that Viet Nam's export value during the first half of November was down 16 per cent to US$6.5 billion from last month's figure, including a fall of $254 million in garment and textile exports, $197 million in electronics exports, and $57 million in steel exports.

As a result, the fishery producer index inched down 0.3 per cent, the construction material index fell 1.6 per cent, and the information and technology company index was down 0.5 per cent. The biggest companies in those sectors such as the conglomerate FPT Corporation (FPT) dropped 2 per cent, information technology CMC Corporation (CMG) fell 3.4 per cent, Century Synthetic Fiber Corporation (STK) declined by 2.4 per cent.

Other firms such as Garmex Saigon Joint Stock Company (GMC) was down 4.1 per cent, Pomina Steel Corporation (POM) dropped 1.5 per cent, and Ha Tien 1 Cement Joint Stock Company (HT1) decreased by 1.8 per cent.

"Investors have started to sell their investments in speculative stocks after they have made rapid gains recently," Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities Corporation (SHS) wrote in its report.

Some speculative stocks that fell included FLC Group (FLC), which dropped 4.4 per cent and Ocean Group Joint Stock Company (OGC), which fell 4.7 per cent. — VNS