Petroleum, securities stocks soar

Jan 10th at 09:32

10-01-2014 09:32:41+07:00

National stocks increased for the fourth straight session yesterday.

Shares of petroleum and securities firms continued to hit new highs as many reached their ceiling prices, such as Petroleum Sai Gon Construction And Investment (PSG), PetroVietnam Power Engineering Consulting (PPE), PetroVietnam Engineering Consultancy (PVE), Petrovietnam – Nghe An Investment&Trading (PXA), BIDV Securities (BSI), Agribank Securities (AGR) and Asia-Pacific Securities (APS). Others saw growth of 1.4-8.2 per cent.

On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index rose 0.6 per cent to 516.98 points, successfully breaking its resistance. Trading value climbed 36 per cent over Wednesday's session to VND1.36 trillion (US$64.2 million) on a volume of 91.5 million shares.

Among the 30 largest shares tracked by the VN30 Index, gainers overwhelmed losers by 21-1, as the index added 0.7 per cent to 577.19 points.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index reached 71.16 points, up 1.7 per cent to a 17 month record. The HNX30 Index, representing the bourse's top 30 shares, also increased almost 2.3 per cent to 135.88 points.

While some 79 million shares were exchanged, trading value jumped to VND638.15 billion ($30.1 million).

Also, businesses in various sectors have reported their financial performances for the last year. Thanh Cong Garment Investment and Trading (TCM) estimated its profits increased 31.3 per cent, compared to the year's target, while PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), Phu My Fertiliser (DPM), steelmaker Hoa Sen (HSG) and Vietinbank (CTG) posted profits from VND580 billion ($27.3 million) to VND15 trillion ($707.5 million).

Additionally, foreign investors' net purchases surged by 3.2 times yesterday, compared to the previous trading day, to reach VND128.8 billion ($6 million).

According to HCM City Securities' deputy general director Trinh Hoai Giang, if foreign ownership is officially lifted, not only in banks but in listed companies, the Vietnamese stock market would attract large amounts of foreign investment.

However, some experts allege that foreign investment would only have short term impacts. "Authorities need other measures," said Sai Gon Asset Management CEO Louis Nguyen The Lu.

"Foreign investment in 2014 will increase, but not strongly, as Viet Nam's economy still faces certain difficulties from distressed assets and cross-holdings in the banking system," he added.

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