Customers perform transaction at a branch of VPBank (VPB) in Ha Noi. VPB gained (+2.9 per cent on Thursday. — Photo tapchicongthuong.vn
The VN-Index gained on Thursday but investors dumped a huge amount of stocks at the close to collect profits.
The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange rose 0.06 per cent to close at 938.24 points.
The index had gained 0.32 per cent to end at 937.68 points on Wednesday.
According to Bao Viet Securities Co (BVSC), the VN-Index will keep moving sideways with divergence among stocks. It should test the resistance zone of 940-943 points in the last session of the week.
"We are leaning toward the possibility that the market will oscillate in the trading range between the support zone 930-932 and resistance zone 940-943 points. A positive breakout of this consolidation is expected," BVSC said.
More than 177.7 million shares were traded on the southern bourse on Thursday, valued at VND3.2 trillion (US$137.4 million).
Market breadth was negative as decliners outnumbered gainers by 185 to 146.
Among the top gainers were PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) (+1.7 per cent), brewery Sabeco (SAB) (+1.9 per cent), real estate developer Vingroup (VIC) (+0.4 per cent), VPBank (VPB) (+2.9 per cent), Viet Nam National Petroleum Stock (PLX) (+0.8 per cent), Vietinbank (CTG) (+0.2 per cent), Vincom Retail (VRE) (+0.6 per cent), FPT Corporation (FPT) (+0.4 per cent) and Novaland (NVL) (+0.2 per cent).
Some pillars which suffered from profit-taking pressure included Vinhomes (VHM) (-0.6 per cent), Bank for Investment and development (BID) (-0.8 per cent), Military Bank (MBB) (-1.2 per cent), Vinamilk (VNM) (-0.3 per cent), Mobile World Group (MWG) (-0.9 per cent), Masan Group (MSN) (-0.6 per cent), Vietcombank (VCB) (-0.1 per cent), Hoa Phat Group (HPG) (-0.4 per cent) and Techcombank (TCB) (-0.2 per cent).
In positive news, the European Parliament (EP) officially ratified EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) on Wednesday. The agreement needs to be approved by Viet Nam’s National Assembly in May to come into force.
Under the tariff reduction roadmap, tariffs on most yarn and fabric products will be immediately exempted while tariffs on garments will gradually fall to 0 per cent in 6-8 years.
Textiles, therefore, were among the sectors that have benefited from the agreement. Gainers in the textile group on Thursday were TNG Investment and Trading JSC (TNG) (+1.2 per cent), Thanh Cong Textile and Garment Joint Stock Co (TCM) (+1.4 per cent), Viet Nam National Textile & Garment Group (VGT) (+1.1 per cent) and Song Hong Garment JSC (MSH) (+2.1 per cent).
Retail, agriculture, insurance, food and beverage, construction, securities, oil and gas, banking, and rubber production were among declining sectors.
The sector indices declined between 0.09 per cent and 1.97 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.
The VN30-Index, which tracks the performance of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and liquidity on HoSE, grew by 0.11 per cent to 864.16 points.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index dropped 0.30 to end Thursday's session at 108.19 points.
The northern index had climbed 3.57 per cent to end Wednesday at 108.51 points.
More than 40.6 million shares were traded on the northern bourse for VND481 billion. — VNS