Shrimp processed at Minh Phu Hau Giang JSC, a member of Minh Phu Corporation. Shares of seafood processors advanced strongly on Wednesday following a zero per cent anti-dumping tax imposed by the US Department of Commerce on Vietnamese shrimp products in the 13th period of review. — VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh
Vietnamese shares slid on Wednesday under pressure of international trade relations while property developers and banks continued being hit by strong selling.
The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange dropped 0.66 per cent to close at 981.91 points.
The VN-Index has lost total 1.57 per cent in the last two trading days.
Nearly 160 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND3.5 trillion (US$150 million).
Viet Nam’s major stock exchange was dominated by declining stocks, which outnumbered gainers by 183 to 113.
The main cause of the stock market decline on Wednesday was trade tension between the US and Europe.
“The Vietnamese stock market weakened after global stocks traded in negative territory following tension in US-Europe trade relations,” Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities (SHS) said in its daily report.
Investor confidence was also dampened by the International Monetary Fund’s announcement late on Tuesday, which lowered the global growth rate to 3.3 per cent from 3.5 per cent, according to MB Securities Co (MBS).
Trade tensions and tightened fiscal policies of central banks are major concerns for the global economy and investors, MBS said.
Asian shares, including Viet Nam, were affected by investors’ pessimism about the global economic slowdown, MBS added.
On the Vietnamese stock market, banks and real estate firms were the worst-performing due to low investor confidence.
The banking and real estate sector indices lost 1.3 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, data on vietstock.vn showed.
The stocks that dragged the two sectors down included HDBank (HDB), TPBank (TPB), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), and Military Bank (MBB), LDG Investment JSC (LDG), Vinhomes (VHM) and Vingroup (VIC).
Following the two sectors were securities, retail, construction, insurance and plastics.
Ending on Tuesday on a positive note were petroleum and energy stocks, as oil prices continued expanding, and seafood processors, after the US Department of Commerce announced a zero per cent anti-dumping tax for Vietnamese shrimp products in the 13th period of review.
The two sector indices gained 1.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively, data on vietstock.vn showed.
MBS said that the correction may continue in the next few trading days. However, when the market becomes balanced and stocks fall at a slower pace, the trading activity may turn positive.
What benefits the stock market is large-cap stocks being dragged to cheaper levels, MBS added. The fall of large-cap stocks will trigger investors to scoop them up, indicating the recent correction is only a technical decline.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged down 0.25 per cent to end at 107.43 points.
The northern market index has declined by total 1.37 per cent in the last two days.
More than 33 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND456 billion. — VNS