Blue-chips are market knights in shining armor

As the government gets to grips with macroeconomic issues, investors are restructuring their portfolios, prompting buying major stocks on speculation that prices of good stocks were cheap enough.

Supportive stocks massively jumped, among them Vinamilk (VNM), Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) hit ceiling.

Bao Viet Holding (BVH) and Masan Group (MSN) both added VND3,000 after hitting the ceiling during the session. Vincom Corp. (VIC), FPT Corp. (FPT) and PetroVietnam Fertilisers (DPM) were also among top gainers.

Foreigners significantly contributed to the large demand for major shares, when net buying VND15.68 billion ($757,000) worth of shares on the Ho Chi Minh (HoSE) bourse today. Their buying volume accounted for nearly 30 per cent of the market’s total trading volume.

Gaining blue-chips helped the VN-Index finish at 475.38 points, up 7.16 points (1.53 per cent).

Liquidity slightly recovered to VND700,45 billion ($33.84 million).

“Supply is likely to augment in forthcoming sessions, which can restrain the recovery momentum and even push the market back down. Investors should be cautious about the ongoing recovering trend,” said Saigon Securities Inc.

Mid-cap and penny stocks were largely sold out. Up to 115 stocks ended lower and 71 unchanged on HoSE, while 99 were up.

Banking shares were among the decliners.

The Hanoi Stock Exchange lost 0.6 points, or 0.66 per cent, to close at 90.05 points. Liquidity lowered as well to VND405.83 billion ($20.7 million).

Brokerage firms’ shares, along with the recent tumble of Kim Long Securities (KLS), sharply fell. KLS last week announced it was exiting from the securities sector, riggering deep concerns from investors about a bad year looming for brokerage firms.

KLS shed 2 per cent to VND9.900, Bao Viet Seacurities (BVS) dropped 3.9 per cent while Vietinbanhk seacurities off 1.1 per cent.

As many as 111 stocks were unchanged or had no transactions, while 169 stocks fell and 98 were up on the northern bourse.