Caution was seen in early trade over news of the exchange rate volatility, negative credit growth at banks and a possible uptick of fuel prices. Investor sentiment then improved because the nation’s consumer price index is expected to rise just 1.5% in February following big cities’ releases of their good CPI figures.
In the afternoon, stocks moved to the daily high before drifting a little lower thereafter and staging a final flourish at the close. The VN-Index settled at 494.83, gaining 4.05 points, or 0.83%, compared to the previous day.
Liquidity on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange remained healthy although both volume and value dropped sharply against the session earlier to 78.5 million shares worth nearly VND1.2 trillion. The put-through market was quiet again with just one large trade seen in TMS.
The Hanoi market also advanced nicely although turnover dropped somewhat to VND700 billion. The HNX-Index again outperformed the VN-Index, jumping 0.75 point, or 1.13%, against the session earlier to close at 67.
Viet Dragon Securities Company (VDSC) said the late recovery following strong seesaws coupled with improved market breadth was a positive sign in on Wednesday’s session. Strong foreign buying also gave support to both indices, especially on the Hanoi market.
“We keep our viewpoint that the VN-Index will move in the narrow range of 490 to 500 points with clear divergence among stocks. Foreign trading will help drive the market up in the next sessions,” the broker said.
HCMC Securities Corp. (HSC) commented that the markets shrugged off two days of profit taking to end the day on a positive note despite concerns over a possible hike in petrol prices.
“We see continued buying from retail investors plus selected foreign players. The weight of momentum is still behind the bulls for the time being. This is why we are still seeing fairly shallow corrections. As long as foreigners remain net buyers on most days, the bias will remain to the upside. However, if we see sustained profit taking from that side, it’s likely that local investors who keep their fingers on the trigger at all times would follow suit.”
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