Painful momentum still unrestrained

illustration photo

The VN-Index of Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) slipped a further1.63 per cent, down 7.33 points to 442.58 points. The benchmark had modestly risen in the opening period, but was immediately dragged down by selling pressures.

Although decliners reduced to 166 stocks and advancers amounted to 76 stocks, most major stocks still tumbled.

Blue-chips Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Vietcombank (VCB) hit the floor. Real estate stocks like Ocean Group (OGC), Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG), Song Da Urban & Industrial Zone Investment and Development (SJS) still sunk. Kinhbac City Development Share Holding Corp. (KBC) and Licogi 16 (LCG) hit the floor.

Speculative small-cap stocks, particularly real-estate sector, were dumped out at several millions units, among them Sao Mai Construction Corp. (ASM), Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate Corp. (HQC), Ninh Van Bay Real Estate (NVT), Transport Engineering Construction & Business Investment JSC 584 (NTB). Those stocks were also the most active on the bourse.

Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) was weighed down by the deep falls in speculative stocks.

A mass of construction giant unit stocks hit or nearly hit the floor, among them Song Da Urban Investment Construction and Development (SDU), Song Da Electrical Engineering (SDE), Song Da No 9.06 (S96), Song Da 909 (S99), Song Da Trading and Transport (SDP), Song Da 19 (SJM). Other pennies were largely dumped.

Meanwhile, large-cap stocks on the northern bourses modestly fell 1-3 per cent each.

The HNX-Index lost 1.4 points or 1.81 per cent, after decliners made up a big part of the bourse. Some 223 stocks were off, overwhelming 57 advancers.

Local investors believed that the market was in a long correction period, ending the hot upswing from the beginning of this year.

Even demand for cheap shares had significantly reduced, pushing liquidity strongly dropped on both bourses. Trading value stood at VND1.15 trillion ($55.5 million) on the main HoSE, with 77.7 million shares changing hands. HNX saw as little as 39.5 million shares worth VND425.9 billion ($20.6 million) traded.