Shares decline on cautious sentiment

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks of PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS). GAS lost 2.9 per cent on Monday.-Photo pvgas.com.vn

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index ended the trading day at 1,188.50 points, a loss of 0.52 per cent.

During the session, the market’s breadth remained in the negative zone, with 127 stocks increasing, while 321 stocks declined.

Liquidity stayed at a low level with the total trading value on the southern bourse reaching VND9.9 trillion (US$423 million), equivalent to a trading volume of 437.8 million shares.

“Facing the psychological threshold of 1,200 points, the money flow continued to be cautious and struggled before this resistance area,” said Viet Dragon Securities Co.

“VN-Index is moving sideways in a narrow range during the session. The selling pressure increased at the end of the session while the demand was gradually weakening so the index lost its uptrend.

“The boosting efforts of the market weakened when it approached the psychological resistance of 1,200 points and retreated in the last session of the week.

“Liquidity gradually reduced since VN-Index formed a gap-up, continuing to show the caution of cash flow. With signs of weakness in the past three sessions, VN-Index will likely retest the resistance level of 1,180-1,190 points and a bullish gap before returning to the recovery trend.

“Therefore, investors should temporarily slow down, avoid overbuying and take advantage of the downtrend to continue accumulating strong stocks that retreat to the rigid support zone."

The 30 biggest stock tracker VN30-Index lost 0.51 per cent, to 1,222.60 points. In the VN30 basket, nine stocks climbed, while 20 slid and one stayed unchanged.

In the VN-30 basket, losers included Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX) and PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS).

Bank stocks put great pressure on the overall market, with losers being BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), Tienphong Bank (TPB), Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), VPBank (VPB), Sacombank (STB) and MBBank (MBB).

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) also finished lower, down 1.19 per cent, to 285.38 points.

On the northern bourse, more than 58.8 million shares were traded, worth VND1.19 trillion.