Rumours swirl around market

Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange’s (HoSE)’s VN-Index lost as high as 12.69 points or 3.27 per cent to 375.26 points. Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX)’s HNX-Index also lost 1.6 points or 3.04 per cent to 51.06 points.

Information about possible stepping down of the Sacombank’s chairman Dang Van Thanh spread this morning worrying investors. Meanwhile, Thanh’s wife Huynh Bich Ngoc stepped down as board member of Societe De Bourbon Tay Ninh this morning.

In fact, the news of Thanh’s stepping down was confirmed by Sacombank after the session's close.

Selling pressure rose from the session’s opening pushing the market down. Both bourses sunk in red with 208 stocks off on the HoSE compared with just 33 advancing. HNX saw 169 stocks declining and 36 rising.

Speculative stocks in the mineral, real estate and securities sector were dumped the most. Tan Tao Investment Industry Corp. (ITA), Sacom Development and Investment Corp (SAM), Investment and Trading of Real Estate (ITC), Ocean Group (OCG) massively fell to floor prices with million units offered each.

Securities company shares Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI), VNDirect Securities (VND), Kim Long Securities (KLS), Saigon-Hanoi Securities (SHS), Asia-Pacific Securities (APS) hit the floor with millions of units sold.

Even blue-chips like Vietcombank (VCB), Vinamilk (VNM), Masan Group (MSN), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) also fell to floor prices.

However, an increase in bottom fishing activities helped improve liquidity. Total matching values jumped to VND872.4 billion ($42.1 million).

Tan Tao Investment Industry Corp. (ITA) outperformed the HoSE with nearly 4 million shares matched. Meanwhile, Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) outperformed the HNX with as high as 8.1 million shares matched. A dozen stocks also had matching volume surpassing 1 million units.

Put-through transactions kept modest. HoSE’s liquidity reached 59.1 million shares worth VND659.1 billion ($31.8 million) while that of HNX reaching 47 million shares worth VND285.7 billion ($13.8 million).