Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Securities companies earned a profit of 1.66trillion VND (71.8 million USD) from selling local equities in theJanuary-September period.

In January-September, securities firms bought in a total of 1.1 billion sharesand fund certificates, worth 27 trillion VND.

They offloaded 1.26 billion shares and certificates, worth more than 28.6trillion VND.

Securities firms, through their proprietary trading units, recorded five monthsof net selling and four months of net buying this year.

In April, they offloaded a net value of 1.9 trillion VND. In September,securities firms sold a net value of 726 billion VND.

A popular target for proprietary trading teams was fund certificates of thedomestic exchange-traded fund E1VFVN30 ETF, which they net-bought a total of 362.4billion VND in nine months.

Other stocks that were also on the must-buy list included Vietcombank (VCB),Viglacera (VGC) and Phu Nhuan Jewellery JSC (PNJ).

On the other hand, the must-sell list contained fund certificates of FUEFVNDETF, animal feed producer Dabaco JSC (DBC), petrol firm Petrolimex (PLX),consumer company Masan (MSN), Military Bank (MBB) and dairy group Vinamilk(VNM).

The harsh condition of the stock market not only forcedsecurities firms to net-sell local assets but also triggered prolonged sellingamong foreign investors.

Foreign investors in the first three quarters sold a total netvalue of 2.4 trillion VND worth of shares and fund certificates.

The benchmark VN-Index has fallen 5.31 percent since the beginning of the year.

On the contrary, the minor HNX-Index has gained nearly a third in the sameperiod and the UPCoM-Index has increased by 10.2 percent./.