Market rises for third straight day

HCMC – The local market gained ground for the third consecutive session on Thursday as blue-chips continued moving up. The VN-Index rose 1.33 points, or 0.29%, from a day earlier to end at 462.05. On the Hochiminh Stock Exchange, demand dropped 13.6% from the previous session to 62 million shares while supply surged 30.8% to nearly 84 million shares. Liquidity fell slightly with 37.3 million shares worth VND983 billion changing hands, decreasing by 2.5% and 6.4% respectively. The market opened higher and gained a slight 1.27 points to 461.99 after the first matching phase and then rose further before jumping four points at the middle of the continuous matching phase, only to drop back steadily towards the end of the session. The number of advancers was almost equal to that of gainers, at 159 to 162, of which nine stocks went to the ceiling prices and seven issues plunged to the floor prices. PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemicals Corp. (DPM) became the most actively traded stock, gaining 4.7% to VND32,900 per share with 1.9 million shares changing hands. Eximbank (EIB) followed, falling 0.5% to VND17,800 with nearly 1.8 million shares traded. Foreigners were strong net buyers again, acquiring 11.4 million shares worth VND473 billion and offloading 4.7 million shares worth VND172 billion, making up 48% and 17.5% of the market’s buying and selling value respectively. The Hanoi market, meanwhile, declined strongly and turnover also tumbled to around VND540 billion. The HNX-Index shed 2.22 points, or 1.78%, from the previous session and ended the day at 122.62. The market saw 122 stocks rising and 160 others falling, including seven stocks shooting up to the ceiling and five stocks dropping to the floor. Foreigners were net buyers, contributing 0.6% and 0.4% of the market’s buying and selling value respectively. Vietnam International Securities Co. (VIS) in its daily report said the market still maintained the uptrend on Thursday given strong rallies of stock indices globally. Liquidity stayed low as most investors were cautious while some offloaded shares to take profits. The bustling gold market, meanwhile, seemed to be more attractive to local investors. “The market is still in the cumulative stage and investors are waiting for the third quarter’s financial reports of listed firms. The VN-Index will move in a narrow margin in the last trading day of the week,” VIS said. APEC Securities Co., meanwhile, said the slowing uptrend on Thursday was not surprising to investors as the VN-Index retreated more than twice when the market neared the range between 465 and 470 points since August. Low liquidity was a positive sign, showing the market had yet to reach the peak of the rising streak. “We advise that investors stay outside the market on Saturday. The market will correct if the VN-Index broke the 470-point level but stock prices then will be higher than the recent correction stage,” APEC added.