Southern bourse hits the floor

February 21, 2011 | 15:00

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The Ho Chi Minh bourse hit a record low on Monday, with investors’ sentiment deeply weakened by continuous bad macroeconomics news.

The State Bank announced it had government approval to rein in credit growth of less than 20 per cent, down from 31.19 per cent in 2010, in an effort to control rampaging inflation.

The news weighed on the ongoing bad macroeconomics situation, dragging down the local stock market to the lowest level since November 2009. The VN-Index dropped 20.24 points or 4.02 per cent to 483.68 points, breaking the 500 level.

Up to 198 stocks hit the floor on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) comprised in 257 decliners, compared with seven advancers.

Numerous blue-chips stocks hit the floor, among them Bao Viet Holding (BVH), Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG), Hoa Phat Group and PetroVietnam Fertilisers (DPM).

Masan Group (MSN) shed 2.25 per cent, while Vincom Corp. (VIC) off 3.8 per cent.

Among banking stocks, Eximbank (EIB) fell 3.92 per cent, Sacombank (STB) 4.64 per cent and Vietinbank (CTG) hit floor.

Analysts said the record drop today showed that the market was reaching the lowest point, which on the other hand might be a sign for the following recovery of the stock market.

In fact, trading value was quite high at VND1.09 trillion ($52.95 million), up 22 per cent against the previous session, help by a number of investors catching the bearish market.

By Hai Linh

vir.com.vn

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