Chickens come home to roost

The local government proposed to lift the inflation target once again to 17 per cent, after adjusting the index to 15 per cent one month ago.

Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange’s (HoSE)  VN-Index shed 2.06 points or 0.47 per cent to 432.54 points, after 143 stocks falling on the bourse. Meanwhile 76 stocks ended up and 74 unchanged.

Up to 30 stocks hit the floor, among them mainly small-cap and mid-cap stocks.

Hoa Phat Group (HPG) shed 1.61 per cent, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) 1.52 per cent, PetroVietnam Fertilisers (FPT) 0,61 per cent while FPT Corp. (FPT) was off  0.21 per cent.

PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) fell 3.54 per cent, Vietcombank eased back 1.07 per cent while Sacombank (STB) and Eximbank (EIB) both ended flat.

Top active stocks largely fell as well, with Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI) losing 2.21 per cent and PetroVietnam Transportation Corp. (PVT) sharply reducing 4.08 per cent. Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation (REE) shed 0.88 per cent, Tan Tao Investment Industry Corp. (ITA) 2.75 per cent and Investment and Trading Of Real Estate (ITC) 1.47 per cent.

A few major stocks still gained, with Vincom Corp. (VIC) up 2.24 per cent and Sacombank Securities (SBS) suddenly hitting the ceiling.

Some mid-cap stocks like Danang Rubber JSC (DRC), Tai Nguyen Corp. (TNT) and Phu Nhuan Jewelry (PNJ) strongly jumped.

Trading volumes were low at 24.2 million shares, worth VND410 billion. Put-through volumes made up 7.4 million units worth VND116 billion, with STB and PetroVietnam General Services (PET) were strongly changed hands.

PET was also among the stocks matched the most today with more than one million units traded. SSI outperformed with 1.5 million shares changing hands.

Hanoi  Stock Exchange (HNX) fell 0.5 points or 0.67 per cent to 74.35 points. Liquidity slightly rose to 29.6 million shares worth VND316 billion ($15.3 million), with put-through volume contributing a significant part of 6.53 million shares.

Most major stocks declined, but Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Hoa Binh Securities (HBS) slightly gaining. Kim Long Securities (KLS) outperformed with 3.2 million units traded.

Some 171 stocks were off compared with 75 up and 138 unchanged on the northern bourse.