Shares tumble but liquidity reaches one-month high

Vinhomes Imperial Hải Phòng. Shares of Vinhomes dropped 0.9 per cent on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam

Shares tumbled on Wednesday after a two-day increase, but liquidity soared to the highest level in the past month, demonstrating the re-ignited interest of investors in the stock market since it bottomed out in July.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index fell by 0.34 per cent to close the day at 1,357.79 points.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged down 0.19 per cent to end at 334.44 points.

However, both stock indices increased in the last two sessions.

Liquidity improved with 956 million shares worth a total VNĐ29.8 trillion (US$1.3 billion) traded in the two markets, up 9 per cent in volume and 11 per cent in value compared to the previous session.

Particularly, the trading value on HCM City’s bourse reached the highest since July 12 when the VN-Index dropped to its bottom of 1,296 points.

“The mixed ups-and-downs after the VN-Index went up for nine consecutive sessions is a normal movement. The positive point is the market liquidity is improving gradually, indicating that the money is coming back,” market analysts wrote on vietstock.vn.

Realty shares were the drag on Wednesday when heavyweight shares such as Vingroup (VIC), Novaland Investment (NVL) and Vinhomes (VHM) slumped.

VIC led the losers with a drop of 1.8 per cent. VHM decreased 0.9 per cent and NVL fell 0.7 per cent.

On the other end of the spectrum, banks continued to sustain the market. 

Vietcombank (VCB), VPBank (VPB) and TienPhongBank (TPB) were among the top 5 shares contributing to the VN-Index growth. VCB was up 1.5 per cent; VPBank (VPB) up 1.2 per cent and TienPhongBank (TPB) up 2.8 per cent.

However, from the perspective of the whole banking industry, divergence still took place. Decliners included big names such as BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Ho Chi Minh Development Bank (HDB).

Fifteen of the 25 sectors tracked by vietstock.vn declined and 10 advanced. Small-cap industries such as transportation and warehousing and households were in a fever with many shares climbing to or near the ceiling.

“With the above trend, the VN-Index is expected to continue moving in the range of 1,350-1,380 points,” said analysts at BIDV Securities Co in their daily report.

Many foreign investors were net sellers on both exchanges, offloading shares worth a total VNĐ760 billion.