Shares retreat on investor caution

Shares retreat on investor caution

Shares failed to retain their advance during March 22's session with the VN-Index losing 0.37 per cent to close at 489.99 points on the HCM City Stock Exchange.

Source: VietstockFinance

Only 60 listed stocks saw a rally, while the same number tumbled and nearly 170 closed unchanged.

Trading value decreased 26.6 per cent compared to Thursday's level, totalling VND992 billion (US$47.2 million) with 54.5 million shares changing hands.

Blue chips did not perform well, pulling the VN30 (tracking the top 30 shares) down 0.8 per cent to 554.84 points. Only two stocks among the 30 blue chips managed to add value, they were Masan Group (MSN) . Meanwhile, Vinamilk (VNM) and Eximbank (EIB) saw no change.

Sacombank Securities Co (SBS) closed at reference price on its last trading session yesterday. More than 700,000 SBS shares changed hands.

"Technically signals support the recovery trend of the VN-Index, but in fact, the index is being challenged by February's highs," said FPT Securities Co analysts.

It was highly possible that the VN-Index would enter an accumulation period with the nearest support level of 469 points, they predicted.

Meanwhile on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index shed 0.9 per cent to close at 60.93 points. There were twice as many losers as gainers.

Market value hit a meagre level of VND317 billion ($15) on a volume of nearly 40.9 million shares.

The HNX30, tracking the northern bourse's leading shares, dropped 1.1 per cent to 116.63 points.

Foreign investors were still net buyers on both exchanges, but net value declined compared to the previous day to just VND10.9 billion ($519,000).

Although market liquidity rose slightly, there was no guarantee that cash flow had improved, the analysts said, adding, "Instead, investors were cautious as market trends remained vague and the market could not exceed its previous peak."

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