Markets sink as yuan falls further

August 13, 2015 | 14:34

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Shares fell for the third straight day after China's central bank devalued the yuan by another 1.1 per cent this morning.

Shares continue to fall in the cal market this morning. Photo nguoiduatin.vn

It has been forecast that the Chinese bank's move will trigger a "currency war" in the region.

Thursday's fix was 1.1 per cent below Wednesday's fix of 6.3306, setting the yuan at 6.4010 per US dollar. The bank devalued the yuan by 1.9 per cent on Tuesday and then 1.6 per cent on Wednesday.

The domestic stock market reacted negatively to the news, with the benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange losing another six points, or 0.99 per cent, to close the morning at 598.24 points.

The index fell nine points, or 1.44 per cent yesterday.

Almost half of the total 308 codes tumbled, led by large-cap shares, as the VN30, which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity, was also down 0.92 per cent to end at 627.08 points.

Liquidity decreased slightly from yesterday morning, with more than 50 million shares worth VND971 billion ($44.5 million) being traded.

Real estate FLC Group (FLC) was leading the market with nearly 2.6 million of its shares being exchanged, but its price fell 1.3 per cent to stand at VND7,700 per share.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also slumped 1.1 per cent to finish at 81.84 points.

The market condition was negative as the losers outnumbered the advancers by 105 to 43, while 214 stocks were flat.

Only 20 million shares worth VND203 billion ($9.3 million) were traded by the end of the morning.

Just three stocks saw trading of more than one million shares. Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB) was the most active stock, with nearly 2.5 million of its shares being exchanged. Its price slid 1.33 per cent to touch VND7,400 each.

The afternoon session will begin at 1pm.

VNS

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