Groundhog day for market

Some 206 stocks eased back on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) with 111 hitting the floor. Just 41 stocks gained.

Highly-liquid stocks massively hit the floor, among them Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI), Ocean Group (OCG), Tan Tao Investment Industry (ITA) and Sacom Development and Investment (SAM).

Vinh Son-Song Hinh Hydropower (VSH), Licogi  16 (LCG) and Thuan Thao Corp. (GTT) sharply fell after continuously rising in past sessions.

PetroVietnam-family stocks Mientrung Petroleum Construction (PXM), Petroleum Pipeline & Tank Construction (PXT) and Petroleum Industrial and Civil Construction (PXI) were among the top gainers as investors strongly locked in profits.

The benchmark VN-Index was down 0.09 points or 0.02 per cent, despite the sharp rise of three pillars Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Masan Group (MSN) and Vincom Corp. (VIC).

Today’s market movements confirmed concerns about an unstable rising trend, with speculators cashing in seeking short-term profits.

“There is insufficient macroeconomic factors to support the market yet, so we can not sure about a stable rising trend yet also,” said Nguyen Hoang Giang, VnDirect Securities’ general director.

“The speculative cash flows are exiting the market,” said Ngo Van Minh, research director for Saigon-Hanoi Fund.

Liquidity slightly shed on the southern bourse to 49 million shares, worth VND845.7 billion ($40.9 million).

Investors also rushed to sell out their holds on Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), pushing the benchmark HNX-Index down 1.77 points (2.23 per cent) to 77.74 points.

Decliners were almost pennies and major stocks which had been strongly bid previously. Securities company shares Kim Long Securities (KLS), VnDirect Securities (VND) and Bao Viet Securities (BVS) all hit or nearly hit the floor.

Other major stocks like PetroVietnam Construction (PVX), PetroVietnam Northern Gas (PVG) saw hundreds of thousands of offer orders outstanding.

Overall, 270 stocks declined on the northern bourse with 177 hitting the floor. Liquidity tumbled to 47.8 million worth VND584.82 billion ($28.25 million).