Foreign investors net buyers for 7 consecutive weeks

Foreign investors recorded the seventh consecutive week of net stock purchasing on Vietnam's stock market this week, with a total value of over VND1,343 billion ($57 million).

VPD of Vietnam Power Development JSC was most net bought with 26.6 million shares. It was followed by HPG of steel maker Hoa Phat and SHB of Saigon-Hanoi Bank with 16.3 million and 15.1 million shares, respectively.

On the other side, EIB of Eximbank was most net sold with 58.4 million shares.

Closing the trading week from December 19-23, the VN-Index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), dropped 32.14 points or 3.1% to 1,020.34. The Hanoi Stock Exchange's HNX-Index fell 7.69 points or 3.6% to 205.3.

Trading value on the HoSE in the south decreased by 1.8% from the previous week to VND69,833 billion ($2.96 billion), equivalent to a 1.4% rise in trading volume to 4,012 million shares.

Meanwhile, the HNX in the north saw its trading volume and value dropping 9.7% and 9.5% to 449 million shares and VND6,245 billion ($264.78 million), respectively.

Large-cap stocks including VIC of Vingroup, HPG, GAS of PV Gas, NVL of Novaland Group, and GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group had the most negative impact on the VN-Index during the week. Meanwhile, VHM of Vinhomes, MSN of Masan Group, and STB of Sacombank were the main market supports.

Market correction this week caused most groups to decline. The steel industry recorded the sharpest fall with HPG down 10%, HSG of Hoa Sen Group 12.6%, and NKG of Nam Kim JSC 12.1%.

Securities tickers also plunged under short-term profit-taking pressure, with SSI of Saigon Securities, VND of VNDirect Securities, VCI of Viet Capital Securities, and HCM of Ho Chi Minh City Securities losing 8%-12%.

The units involving proprietary trading were net buyers to the tune of VND1,312 billion ($55.63 million), mainly purchasing EIB.

According to Saigon-Hanoi Securities (SHS) analysts, the market is in the correction phase of the retracement wave.

"As the fiscal year 2022 is going to end, many domestic and foreign individual and institutional investors will make portfolio restructuring moves to close the 2022 data and prepare for the next financial year. This will have a certain influence on market fluctuations in the last trading sessions of the year," they said.

The market will see the next recovery in the short term if it maintains the support area around 1,000 points, they forecast, adding that the VN-Index will move towards the 1,150-point territory after corrections.

“Short-term investors can take advantage of the market’s corrections to buy stocks in anticipation of a new price hike. The current time also provides a good chance for mid- and long-term investors to pour money into stocks of businesses with good fundamentals and stable growth and those starting to break through their peaks,” they recommended.

As liquidity has reached a low level, Vietcombank Securities (VCBS) experts held that the VN-Index will shake to find a balance before returning to a new uptrend.

They recommended short-term investors remain cautious, only putting down money when the active buying force returns.