Profit-taking extends losses

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares slid further on both local markets for a second day as investors continued to look for profits in recently-gaining stocks and market liquidity dropped sharply ahead of the national holiday.

The benchmark VN Index fell 0. 四 per cent to close at  五 九 一. 六 七 points, extending a two-day decline of  一. 一 per cent, and the HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange was slightly down to end at  八0. 二 五 points, dropping a total of 0. 九 per cent in the last two sessions.

The property sector continued to weigh on the markets, led by FLC Group (FLC), Năm Bảy Bảy Investment Corp (NBB) and Vingroup JSC (VIC).

FLC declined by  一. 四 per cent after it surged  九. 四 per cent in the previous two sessions while VIC fell  一. 九 per cent.

NBB was down 0. 六 per cent after the company announced its revenue in the first quarter of this year slipped nearly three quarters to VNĐ 一0. 五 billion (US$ 四 六 七,000) from last year’s number.

The two biggest firms in the agriculture sector, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai JSC (HAG) and HAGL Agricultural JSC (HNG), began to fall after they made gains in the previous sessions.

HAG was down  一. 二 per cent from a five-day jump of  一 九. 四 per cent and HNG struggled to stay flat after rising one-fifth in the previous four days.

Local banks and brokerage companies also saw declines.

The banking sector was led down by Asia Co妹妹ercial Bank (ACB), the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID), and Vietinbank (CTG). These stocks fell between 0. 六 per cent and  二. 九 per cent.

Brokerage firms that made losses yesterday included Sài Gòn Securities Inc (SSI), HCM City Securities Corp (HCM) and Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Corp (SHS).

On the opposite side, other blue chips also helped lift the markets such as software retailer FPT Corp (FPT), PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS), Vietcombank (VCB) and BIDV Insurance Corp (BIC).

FPT was up  一. 五 per cent, GAS rose  一 per cent, VCB edged up 0. 四 per cent and BIC advanced  一. 九 per cent.

Market liquidity dropped sharply from Wednesday in both trading volume and value ahead of the national holiday this week, local media reported.

The two local bourses exchanged nearly  一 四 一 million shares worth VNĐ 二. 三 八 trillion (US$ 一0 六 million), a decrease of one-third from Wednesday’s trading value. — VNS