Share growth suggests uptrend

Dec 2nd at 10:30

02-12-2013 10:30:31+07:00

The VN-Index on the HCM City Stock Exchange closed at 507.78 points last week, increasing 0.4 per cent over the previous week, 2 per cent compared to October and 22.74 per cent since the beginning of this year.

Trading value and volume averaged around VND1.24 trillion (US$58.4 million) and 95.4 million shares, declining 22 per cent and 20.5 per cent respectively.

The most notable session was on Wednesday, when the VN-Index broke its resistance level of 510 points. "Although the uptrend did not last until the following day, it revealed a better appetite than October," commented FPT Securities Co analyst Nguyen Van Quy.

The HNX-Index reached 65.19 points, rising 5.75 per cent compared to October.

The average value of trades was VND299.6 billion ($14.1 million) per session, only 71 per cent of the previous week's level.

Selling pressure on penny and speculative stocks increased during the week, as the market saw strong gains during the past month and prices reached attractive levels for sale activities.

Yet despite improved investor sentiment, uncertainties remained about the upcoming portfolio revision of exchange-traded funds. "The changes are hard to predict, and they will surely affect overall trading," Quy said.

However, expectations were set for the first quarter of next year as businesses announced their financial reports. Quy hoped that after the funds' revision and several operation reports were released, blue chips would lead a new rally for 2014. The nation's consumer price index (CPI) rose only 0.34 per cent last month. "This relatively low increase signals that CPI can successfully remain under 8 per cent for the entire year," Quy said. This would mean monetary policies could be loosened in order to boost credit growth to 12 per cent.

Foreign investors were net buyers last week. Although this trend declined in mid-week sessions, they returned to buying Friday, keeping investor sentiment stable. They bought VND109.2 billion ($5.1 million) on the HCM City Stock Exchange, favouring blue chips such as private equity firm Masan Group (MSN), steelmaker Hoa Phat (HPG), PetroVietnam Drilling Services (PVD) and logistics company Gemadept (GMD). In Ha Noi, their net sales reached VND48.8 billion ($2.3 million).

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