Shares end mixed; late selling erases early gains

Photo shows a trading session at the Hà Nội Stock Exchange. Local shares yesterday ended with mixed results and slower growth as investors sought intraday profits from early gains. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Ngân

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares yesterday ended with mixed results as investors increased selling to take profits from stock gains made in the early session.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange closed at  六 六 六. 八 八 points, up only 0. 一 per cent from Thursday. The southern market index has gained 0. 八 per cent in the last two sessions.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange retreated 0. 三 per cent from the previous gain to finish at  八 四. 四 七 points.

“The last trading session of the week opened with strong gains in large-cap stocks such as dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), however, it was investors selling in those stocks for intraday profits that swept out the market’s early gains,” Maritime Securities Inc (MSI) wrote in its daily report.

VNM ended down  二. 七 per cent after adding 0. 七 per cent in the early half session. Foreign selling continued to weigh on the giant dairy firm, which is the largest stock by market capitalisation.

Nearly  一. 六 million shares of Vinamilk were sold by foreign investors while the company’s total shares in trading were only  一. 七 million shares.

Energy stocks like PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corp (PVD) and PetroVietnam Coating Corp (PVB) rose at a slow pace as crude prices retreated on global trading because of profit-taking.

US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped  一. 四 per cent to be traded at nearly US$ 四 七 a barrel, a back-step from a four-day rally of  一0. 三 per cent.

GAS closed at the same price as Thursday after jumping  三. 一 per cent during the day, PVD edged up only 0. 四 per cent after reaching its highest intraday growth rate of  二. 六 per cent, and PVB rose  一. 一 per cent – down from a gain of  二. 七 per cent during the session.

On the opposite side, Vietcombank (VCB) and property developer Vingroup JSC (VIC) helped the market avoid further loss.

VCB jumped  五. 五 per cent as yesterday’s session was the ex-dividend date before the bank pays a dividend of  一0 per cent in cash and a  三 五 per cent bonus shares to investors.

VIC rose  二. 一 per cent to extend a two-day increase of  二. 七 per cent after the HCM Stock Exchange announced Vingroup would conclude the list of shareholders to receive nearly  四 八 四. 五 million bonus shares, and the ex-dividend date for this share issuance would be September  一 五.

The central bank yesterday suddenly raised its daily reference mid-point rate by VND 一 八 to VND 二 一, 九 三 二 for a US dollar. Nearly  一 五 一. 六 million shares were exchanged yesterday worth nearly VNĐ 三. 三 trillion (US$ 一 四 六. 二 million), down  一0 per cent from Thursday’s trading value. — VNS