Securities firms drive market

Demand for securities company shares surged, with Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI) nearly hitting the ceiling within just 30 last minutes with large bidding volumes. Sacombank Securities (SBS), Ho Chi Minh City Securities (HCM), Agribank Securities (AGR) also hit the ceiling on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE).

The sector strongly rallied on  the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX). Up to a dozen stocks smacked the ceiling, among them Kim Long Securities (KLS), VNDirect Securities (VND), Bao Viet Securities (BVS). Stocks of mid and small-scale firms like Asia-Pacific Securities (APS), Saigon-Hanoi Securities (SHS), Au Viet Securities (AVS), Wall Street Securities (WSS), Orient Securities (ORS) also hit the ceiling.

Positive sentiment expanded to other stocks. Banking stocks Military Bank (MBB) sharply rose 4.14 per cent, while Vietinbank (CTG) jumped 3.18 per cent. Vietcombank (VCB) and Eximbank (EIB) advanced more than 1 per cent each on the HoSE.

HNX’s banking stocks Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB), Habubank (HBB) also hit the ceiling, while Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) strongly rose.

Even property stocks strongly rose back with selling pressures significantly reducing. Licogi 16 (LCG) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) both soared more than 3 per cent each. DIC Investment and Trading (DIC) and Kinhbac City Development Share Holding Corp. (KBC) hit the ceiling.

At the close, more than half of the southern bourse or 160 stocks ended higher. Meanwhile, 75 stocks declined and 63 ended flat. The benchmark VN-Index significantly gained 4.74 points or 1.07 per cent to end at 445.77 points.

The HNX even saw a stronger rally, with 236 stocks up. Just 55 stocks were down and 105 were unchanged. HNX-Index gained 2.29 points or 3.17 per cent to close at 74.49 points.

However, liquidity strongly reduced. Total volume reached 59.8 million shares worth VND830.8 billion ($40.1 million) on the HoSE. The figure fell to 66.7 million shares worth VND623.5 billion ($30.1 million) on the HXN.