Cash flow runs into 'public investment stocks'

Stocks of companies implementing public investment projects became a bright spot on Tuesday, with many hitting their ceiling prices though the benchmark VN-Index dropped.

Among those hitting their ceiling prices were KSB of Binh Duong Mineral and Construction JSC, LCG of Lizen JSC, FCN of Fecon Corp, HHV of Deo Ca Traffic Infrastructure Investment JSC, and VCG of Vietnam Construction and Import-Export Joint Stock Corporation.

Even HBC of Hoa Binh Construction Group expanded nearly 4% despite its ongoing "power war".

Their rally was attributed to the National Assembly’s fresh approval of the 2023 public investment plan totaling over VND700 trillion ($29.85 billion), an increase of 25% compared to last year’s plan.

The VN-Index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), went down 0.86 points, or 0.08%, to 1,053.35. The major bourse saw 210 gainers and 174 losers, with more than 546 million shares changing hands for over VND9.7 trillion ($413.65 million).

The VN30 index, which features the 30 largest-cap stocks, dropped 0.61 points, or 0.06%, to 1,060.53, with 13 tickers gaining and 11 declining.

Among the blue chips, PLX of Petrolimex increased nearly 4%, and ACB of Asian Commercial Bank, and STB of Sacombank, both up 1%.

Meanwhile, some banking, securities and production stocks faced sell-off pressure, with SAB of brewer Sabeco and CTG of Vietinbank losing 2%, while TCB of Techcombank and MSN of Masan Group both down over 1%.

Foreign investors continued to be net buyers for the 12th consecutive session to the tune of over VND400 billion ($17.06 million) on the HoSE, mainly purchasing blue chips like HPG of steel maker Hoa Phat and STB.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi bourse gained 0.96 points to 210.63, while the UpCOM-Index on the unlisted public company market was down 0.25 points to 72.48.