Slight shakes expected in Vietnam stock market

The Vietnamese stock market is forecast to shake in narrow ranges in the coming sessions, therefore investors should consider taking advantage of any gains.

The market traded in different directions on Friday, the last session of the week. The country’s benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) ended slightly higher at 1,059.31 points, up 1.02 points, or 0.1%. But the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange declined 0.89 points, or 0.42%, to 209.95 points.

The trading value on the HoSE in the whole week decreased by 12.2% against last week down to a little higher than VND43 trillion (more than $1.8 billion). The trading value on HNX increased by 13.9% to VND4,851 billion ($203.6 million).

Thanks to the benchmark index’s slight increases in the week, stocks in certain sectors recovered. Oil and gas stocks gained the most with 3.4% of market capitalization, followed by consumer market stocks with an increase of 1.2% of the cap. The banking sector gained a 1% increase, while the rises in healthcare and manufacturing were 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively.

Foreign investors were net sellers on both the HoSE and HNX, to a combined tune of VND410 billion ($17.2 million). They focused on selling off DXG of property developer Dat Xanh Group, STB of Sacombank, and NVL of leading property developer Novaland.

Analysts from Saigon-Hanoi Securities JSC said that in a medium-long-term perspective, even if the benchmark VN-Index breaks below 1,050 to return to the medium-term downtrend, there are still two important support levels of 1,000 and 950 points.

From a technical perspective, Vietcombank Securities is of the view that in the short term, the 1,030-1,040 point area is still a temporary support zone. The market is likely to see shakes in narrow ranges in upcoming sessions; investors should consider taking advantage of gaining sessions to grab some profits.