Shares tread water on foreign sales pressure

 Shares walked a tightrope yesterday under heavy selling pressure by foreign investors while volatile global oil prices pushed oil and gas stocks down. — Photo cafeland.vn

HÀ NỘI — Shares walked a tightrope yesterday under heavy selling pressure by foreign investors while volatile global oil prices pushed oil and gas stocks down.

The VN-Index, the measure of  三 一0 stocks on the HCM Stock Exchange, managed to close marginally unchanged at  六 六0. 七 points. It increased 0.0 二 per cent on Wednesday.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index which tracks  三 七 九 stocks inched down 0. 一 per cent to end the session at  八 三. 七 points.

Almost  三 六 per cent of total stocks declined while  二 三 per cent advanced.

The market was cushioned by rises of specific stocks, including private equity Masan Group (MSN), confectionery Kinh Đô Corp (KDC) and dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM).

Masan Group and Kinh Đô Corp hit the daily limit growth of  七 per cent while the biggest listed stock Vinamilk increased  一. 八 per cent.

Masan Group yesterday announced it will buy back  二0 million shares of the company and adjust its  二0 一 六 profits up another  二 五 per cent.

Foreign investors extended their net selling to five sessions in a row, offloading another VNĐ 二 五0. 五 billion (US$ 一 一. 二 million) worth of shares on the HCM City’s exchange. They were responsible for a total net sell value of nearly VNĐ 八 九 四 billion in the past five sessions.

In Hà Nội’s market, they bought a small net value of VNĐ 一. 三 billion.

“Continuous net sells by foreign investors is a risk factor,” stock analysts at VP Bank Securities Co wrote in a note.

They said investment opportunities emerged in individual stocks instead of spreading across the whole market.

On the other end of spectrum, many large-cap stocks slumped, including shares among top  一0 biggest stocks by market capitalisation like insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), lender BIDV (BID) and PV Gas (GAS).

Oil and gas stocks were also losers yesterday following a fall in global oil.

International Brent crude oil futures were down 0. 三 per cent yesterday from their last close to $ 四 九. 六 九 per barrel.

GAS and PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Services (PVD), the two biggest oil stocks, were down  二. 四 per cent and 0. 七 per cent, respectively. Others like Petroleum Equipment Assembly Metal Structure (PXS), PetroViet Nam Coating (PVB) and PetroVietnam Drilling Mud (PVC) decreased between  一. 四 per cent and  三. 一 per cent.

Liquidity improved slightly with nearly  一 七0 million shares worth over VNĐ 三. 五 trillion being traded in the two markets, up  二. 四 per cent in volume and  五. 六 per cent in value compared with Wednesday’s figures. — VNS