On the HCM Stock Exchange, the benchmark VN Index fell 0.5 per cent to close at 598.61 points and the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange dropped slightly 0.1 per cent to finish at 81.47 points. — VNS Photo Doan Tung

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese shares yesterday dropped on the two local exchanges, ending a two-day winning streak, led lower by brokerage firms suffering lower third quarter profits.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the benchmark VN Index fell 0.5 per cent to close at 598.61 points and the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange dropped slightly 0.1 per cent to finish at 81.47 points.

The index for brokerage companies was down 0.9 per cent as HCM City Securities Corporation (HCM) said yesterday that quarterly earnings plunge 50 per cent. HCM dropped 1.4 per cent yesterday and has fallen 2.1 per cent in the last six days.

Over the last two weeks, the 20 biggest companies in the brokerage business reported a net profit of VND460 billion ($20.4 million) during the third quarter, down 13 per cent from the same period a year ago. Net profit during the first nine months of the year was VND1.8 trillion ($80 million), a decrease of 23.6 per cent.

In addition, the banking sector index fell 0.7 per cent yesterday after China reduced its lending rate from 4.6 per cent to 4.35 per cent per year. Meanwhile, the US central bank will consider raising its rates at a meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Those moves may put another pressure on the dong in the near future. Yesterday, the US dollar exchange rate rose by between VND10 and 30 at Vietnamese banks.

The biggest listed banks such as Vietcombank (VCB), the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) and Vietinbank (CTG) fell 0.4 per cent, 1.2 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

Real-estate developers also dropped down a little bit as realty trading in the two biggest markets – Ha Noi and HCM City – rose only 3 per cent from last month, resulting in 23 decliners against 13 gainers in this sector.

The biggest decliners included Nam Long Investment Corporation (NLG), which dropped 0.9 per cent, FLC Group (FLC) and Kinh Bac City Development Share Holding Corporation (KBC), which both fell 1.4 per cent.

Property investor Thang Long Investment Group Joint Stock Company (TIG) was the most active stock on the market with nearly 4.6 million shares traded, falling 2.5 per cent.

The two local exchanges traded more than 146 million shares with total trading value of VND2.5 trillion ($110.6 million), an increase of 5.2 per cent compared to last week's trading average. — VNS