VN-Index gains for fourth consecutive week

Vietnam's benchmark VN-Index increased 46.28 points to 1,258.28 from February 26 to March 1, marking its fourth consecutive week of gaining.

In the first three sessions of the week, large-cap stocks such as VCB of Vietcombank, TCB of Techcombank, VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes, VRE of Vincom Retail, HPG of steel maker Hoa Phat, and FPT of tech giant FPT gained well, helping the VN-Index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), surpass its old peak of 1,250.

After the gaining sessions, the VN-Index on Thursday fluctuated in a wide range, but positive cash flow pulled it near the reference level at the end of the session.

In the week-ending session last Friday, the market opened in the red with a slight decrease. However, thanks to increased demand, the index gradually narrowed the decline, closing at 1,258.28, up 5.55 points from the previous session and 46 points week-on-week.

Foreign investors on Friday increased their net buying to the tune of more than VND199.8 billion ($8.1 million), focusing on VIX of VIX Securities, GEX of Gelex Group, and SSI of Saigon Securities. Their total net buying value for the whole week reached VND116 billion ($4.7 million), including VND56 billion through order matching and VND172 billion via throughput.

The securities group was the best performer as many codes increased sharply such as FTS of FPT Securities (+18.13%), VDS of Viet Dragon Securities (+13.97%), BSI of BIDV Securities (+12.14%), and CTS of VietinBank Securities (+11.2%).

Real estate stocks also saw very positive developments with IJC of Becamex IJC expanding 16.03%, PXL of Long Son Petroleum Industrial Zone Investment JSC 12.9%, KDH of Khang Dien House 10.08%, and HDG of Ha Do Group 9.65%.

The oil and gas group had many strong gainers like PVD of PV Drilling (+12.17%), PVO of PV Oil LUBE (+7.59%), PSH of Nam Song Hau Trading Investing Petroleum JSC (+6.58%), and PVC of PetrovietNam Chemical And Services JSC (+5.59%).

Broker Saigon-Hanoi Securities (SHS) said that after increasing for four consecutive weeks, the index may return to corrections, dropping to the territory of 1,150-1,250 points which means medium-term risks are increasing. "Therefore, short-term investors should be cautious and limit transactions".

Another broker Vietcombank Securities (VCBS) commented that the VN-Index still maintains the upward trend and will soon move up to the 1,300-point area. It recommends that investors take advantage of corrections in the coming week to buy stocks that show signs of attracting cash flows in the fields of securities, real estate and chemicals.