Stock traders at the Ha Noi Stock Exchange. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn
The benchmark VN-Index inched up 0.15 per cent to 776.7 points on Wednesday morning, driven by the recovery of energy stocks.
The three largest listed energy firms on the HCM Stock Exchange advanced, of which PV Gas (GAS) was the biggest gainer, up 1.9 per cent, while Petrolimex (PLX) was up 0.9 per cent and PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service (PVD) was up 0.4 per cent.
Global oil prices slumped on Tuesday following eight straight days of gains. Brent crude futures settled at US$49.46 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were traded at $46.87 per barrel.
PV Gas and Petrolimex had fallen sharply during Tuesday’s trade.
Some financial stocks, meanwhile, rebounded and supported the market, including Sacombank (STb), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Saigon Securities Inc (SSI).
On the other hand, other large banks such as Vietinbank (CTG) and Military Bank (MBB), along with Masan Group (MSN), Vinamilk (VNM), VinGroup (VIC) and DHG Pharmaceutical (DHG) continued to slump.
Money was focused on low-priced shares such as Ocean Group (OGC), Tan Tao Investment and Industry (ITA), Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate (HQC), Duc Long Gia Lai Group (DLG) and HAI Agrochem (HAI). They were the five most active stocks on HCM City’s market, with 5-16 million shares traded in each code.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was up 0.26 per cent at 100.73 points.
A total of 175 million shares worth VND2.4 trillion ($104.5 million) were traded on the two markets.
The afternoon session starts at 1pm. — VNS