Weak liquidity clouds gains

Investors watch market movements at Bao Viet Securities Co's trading floor in Ha Noi. Stocks climbed on both exchanges yesterday but liquidity continued to drain. - VNS Photo Truong Vi

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index gained 7 points or 1.23 per cent to close the session at 574.13 points. Investors again picked up blue chips, particularly bank, oil and gas shares, which led the market uptrend.

Most bank shares rose strongly, including Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), up 6.1 per cent; Vietcombank (VCB) and Vietinbank (CTG), up more than 3 per cent; and Eximbank (EIB), up 2.3 per cent. Large-cap oil and gas shares like PV Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service Corp (PVD) also advanced 0.8-1.3 per cent.

The VN30, which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity, added 0.75 per cent to end at 595.69 points.

"Traders preferred picking up blue chips since cash flow for the stock market seemed weaker," analysts at FPT Securities Co wrote on the company's website yesterday, citing a steep fall in liquidity in recent days.

Liquidity remained dry yesterday with trading volume hitting a multiple-month low, declining another 20 per cent from the previous session to more than 64 million shares and fund certificates, while market value dropped 10 per cent to reach nearly VND1.1 trillion (US$51.4 million).

FLC Group (FLC) again led in terms of market volume with 5.5 million shares traded, slipping 1.89 per cent to finish at VND10,400 a share.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also edged up 0.84 per cent to end at 83.87 points as gainers outnumbered losers by 113-75 and 147 closed flat.

Market volume was still low with over 31 million shares worth VND426 billion ($20 million) traded by the end of the session.

FLC Group investment arm KLF Joint Venture Global Investment Co (KLF) was the most heavily-traded stock with 5.7 million shares exchanged, while its share price climbed 1 per cent to settle at VND10,400 a share.

Though the market is still shadowed by waning liquidity, next week's trading is expected to continue rallying with the backup of blue chips and weakening selling pressure.

Foreign investors remained net buyers in HCM City's market, picking up shares worth nearly VND102 billion ($4.8 million), but they were still net sellers on the Ha Noi bourse, responsible for about VND4.1 billion ($191,600).