Investors take pragmatic approach

March 27, 2012 | 17:00

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The market sharply fell Tuesday in an expected correction session as investors locked in profits.

The VN-Index of Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) sunk as much as 13.34 points, or 2.09 per cent, to end at 445.92 points.

Pillar stocks Vincom Corp. (VIC) and Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) slipped right from the open of the session, skewing the market. Masan Group (MSN) also strongly dropped.

Major stocks led the losers with massive offering volumes at low prices. Financial stocks Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI), Sacombank Securities (SBS), PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) hit the floor. Military Bank (MBB) also hit the ceiling, Eximbank (EIB) and Sacombank (STB) lost more than 3 per cent each, while Vietcombank (VCB) was off nearly 4 per cent.

Blue-chips PetroVietnam Fertilisers (DPM), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), Kinhbac City Development Share Holding Corp. (KBC) massively sunk.

Even speculative low-price stocks were strongly sold today. Mineral stocks Nari Hamico Minerals (KSS), Bac Giang Exploitable Mineral (BGM) and Binh Thuan Hamico Mineral (KSA) all hit the floor. Real estate stocks Transport Engineering Construction & Business Investment JSC 584 (NTB), Binh Duong Trade and Development (TDC) headed south.

Selling pressure also dragged down the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

Massive securities company shares hit the ceiling throughout the session. Bao Viet Securities (BVS), Kim Long Securities (KLS), VNDirect Securities (VND) and Saigon-Hanoi Securities (SHS) plunged on large offering volumes.

PetroVietnam-family stocks like PetroVietnam-Nghe An Construction (PVA), Petro Vietnam Power Land (PVL), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp. (PVS), PetroVietnam Northern Gas (PVG) also turned head to sharply lose from the rallying in previous sessions.

The HNX-Index lost up to 2.77 points or 3.56 per cent to 74.95 points.

“The market correction is the indispensable result of the hot rising tides in the previous week,” said VNDirect Securities in its note to clients today. “Large-cap securities company shares and a number of speculative stocks had already strongly risen, thus the pressure of locking profits will increase in upcoming sessions.”

Liquidity, however, significantly rose. HoSE’s liquidity reached 120.7 million shares worth VND1.61 trillion ($77.9 million), while that of the HNX jumped to 123.5 million shares worth VND1.17 trillion ($56.4 million).