Transactions at the Military Bank Securities stock exchange (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The benchmark VN-Indexhas ended its winning run of nine consecutive weeks under heavy profit-takingselling pressures. The market is forecast to remain volatile due to ongoingportfolio restructuring of exchange-traded funds.
On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Indexdecreased 0.3 percent for the week, closing Friday at 712.6 points,and narrowed its yearly gain to 7.2 percent.
Large-cap stocks have lost their growingmomentum, as investors increased selling in these stocks and channeled money inspeculative investments to seek larger returns.
Leading stocks in their industries, such asdairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), PV Gas (GAS), IT group FPT (FPT), Saigon SecuritiesInc (SSI) and Military Bank (MBB), all slumped last week.
Among gainers, shares of budget airline Vietjet(VJC) soared 46.8 percent in value since its debut on February 28, reaching 132,100VND (5.79 USD) per share.
FLC Faros Construction (ROS) recorded thelongest running streak, rising constantly since December 14, 2016. Its shareprice has climbed 51.5 percent in nearly three months to 152,700 VND.
FTSE, a London-based index provider, announcedon March 3 it would add shares of FLC Faros and two other property stocks, includingHoa Binh Construction (HBC) and Dat Xanh Real Estate Service and Construction(DXG), into its FTSE Vietnam Index in the first quarterly review of 2017.
Meanwhile, the 250 million USD exchange-tradedfund will remove five other Vietnamese stocks from the basket for theindex calculation. The changes take effect on March 20.
Except for ROS, two other firms had negativeperformances last week. HBC shares decreased 4.5 percent in value, while DXGfell 1.1 percent last week.
“The market is expected to be volatile in thecoming week, with a focus on ETF’s actions,” said Tran Duc Anh, a stock analystat Bao Viet Securities Co.
Besides FTSE, VanEck Vectors Vietnam ETF is expectedto announce its first quarterly review on March 10.
According to Anh, although selling pressure wasgenerally quite strong, positive developments in other large-cap stocks, suchas FLC Faros, Vietjet, Vietcombank (VCB) and brewery Sabeco (SAB), stillprovided good support for the marker, Anh said.
Among speculative stocks, realty stocks remaineda magnet thanks to large profits last year, as well as a positive 2017 outlook.
Dat Xanh Real Estate Service and ConstructionCorporation gained 66.8 percent this year, while Haa Binh Corporation (HBC)gained 35.5 percent. Khang Dien House Trading and Investment JSC (KDH) andNovaland Investment (NVL) increased 13.6 percent and 16.5 percent,respectively, this year.
Liquidity decreased on the southern bourse lastweek, with daily trading volume averaging nearly 189 million shares, worth over3.3 trillion VND (145.6 million USD) per session, down 14.5 percent in volumeand 13.3 percent in value compared to the previous week’s figures.
“The market is segmented and the risk increasesin hot rising stocks,” analysts at Vietnam Securities Co warned in a report,noting the VN-Index could retreat to 710 points, before bouncing back onbargain demands.
On the smaller exchange in Hanoi, the HNX-Indexincreased 0.4 percent for the week, ending March 3 at 86.65 pointswith an average 55.4 million shares, worth 527 billion VND (23.1 million USD)traded in each session.
Foreign investors concluded the week as netbuyers on the two exchanges, for a combined net value of 257 billion VND. Their purchasesfocused on hot tickers, such as Vietjet, Hoa Phat Group, Vinamilk and FLCFaros.-VNA
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