Hanoi (VNA) - Shares declined on the two national stock exchanges on December 19, dragged by the slump of brewer Sabeco, but cash flow remained strong which opened an opportunity for a recovery in the next session.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged down 0.69 percent to close at 951.42 points after rising 2.5 percent on December 18.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index decreased 0.31 percent to end the trade at 113.36 points. The northern market index increased 1.9 percent on December 18.

The collapse of Sabeco (SAB) and other major large caps pulled the market down.

Contrary to Vinamilk (VNM) which rose after successful divestment of State Capital Investment Corporation, shares of Sabeco hit the floor price of a 7-percent drop on the HCM City bourse despite the Ministry of Industry and Trade selling the entire offering of 53.6 percent of Sabeco’s capital on December 18's afternoon.

Sabeco’s shares closed at 287,600 VND a share (12.61 USD) per share, a 10 percent discount of the 320,000 VND per share sold to investors in the auction. The third largest shares by market value, Sabeco’s slump harmed overall market conditions.

Also on the defensive were many large-cap stocks such as Vinamilk (VNM), down 1 percent; PV Gas (GAS), down 2.3 per cent; Vietinbank (CTG), down 2 percent and lender BIDV (BID), down 1 percent.

Seventeen of the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the HCM Stock Exchange lost value and only 10 advanced. Gainers included FLC Faros Construction (FLC), Petrolimex (PLX), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), budget airline Vietjet (VJC) and steelmaker Hoa Phat Group (HPG).

According to BIDV Securities Co (BSC), stocks with good expected last-quarter business earnings such as VJC and HPG, increased positively and supported the market.

“We believe the market will quickly recover in the upcoming sessions as liquidity is gradually recovering in the Q4 business results reporting period,” BSC’s analysts wrote in a December 19 report.

A total of 283 million shares worth a combined 6.4 trillion VND (280.7 million USD) were traded on December 19 on the two exchanges, down 8.4 percent in trading volume but up 3.2 percent in value compared to the previous sessions.-VNA