Twin pillars of strength ease bourse slide

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The two blue-chips helped the benchmark VN-Index added 0.33 points (0.07 per cent) to 460.96 points. MSN hit the ceiling for the two straight sessions to VND91,000, while BVH rising VND2,500 to VND76,000.

Whereas, up to 157 stocks declined on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), compared with just 51 advanced.

Looming inflation hike for April, caused by rising power and oil prices, along with high interest rates still put heavy pressure on local stock market. Meanwhile, import prices index for the first quarter added about 3.4 per cent against 2010’ Q4, likely to further the inflation worries.

“The stock exchange sees no chance of rising at the moment,” said Au Viet Securities.

Trading volumes kept low still at 24.46 million shares, worth some VND525 billion ($25.36 million). Foreigners, however, slightly boosted the buying volume to more than 3.6 million units on the southern bourse, up from 2.7 million yesterday and 2.4 million in two sessions ago.

Major stocks largely fell, among them PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) dropped 3.43 per cent and Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI) lost 1.84 per cent. Vietcombank (VCB), Sacombank (STB) and Eximbank (EIB) were off as well.

Vincom Corp. (VIC), Vinamilk (VNM) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) all ended lower.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), as high as 200 stocks ended lower, compared with 62 advanced. The large-scale falling trend dragged HNX-Index to 87.98 points, down 1.09 points.

Tien Phong Plastics JSC (NTP) and PetroVietnam Services (PVS) were among very few major stocks advanced. The gainers were mainly small-cap and mid-cap stocks.

Banking shares and securities company shares all significantly dropped.

Liquidity was slightly up to 22.46 million shares worth VND319 billion ($15.4 million).