An investor on the MB Securities (MBS) trading floor (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Shares declined
on the HCM Stock Exchange on October 31 as large-cap stocks were hit by
profit-taking after the market advanced for two consecutive sessions.
The benchmark VN Index lost 1.05 percent to
end at 837.28 points. It gained total 1.8 percent in the previous two days.
More than 192 million shares were traded on
the southern bourse, worth 4.04 trillion VND (179.5 million USD).
The trading figures posted a decline of 2.6
percent in volume and 10.4 percent in value compared to Monday.
The market breadth was negative with 185
declining stocks, 87 gaining ones and 45 others ending flat.
The VN30 Index, which tracks the
performance of 30 biggest stocks by market capitalisation and trading
liquidity, fell 0.70 percent to 831.62 points.
The VN30 basket was dominated by 21 declining
large-cap shares while only six stocks made gains.
Investors’ profit-taking was blamed for the
decline of the stock market as it strongly hit large-cap stocks, which had
played an important part in pushing the benchmark VN Index to its 10-year high
of 845 points on October 30.
Among those declining large-caps, FLC Faros
Construction (ROS) slumped 4.6 percent after having soared more than 89 percent
since September 27.
[Capital market crucial for socio-economic development: Deputy PM]
Investors were also disappointed by the
company’s performance in the third quarter and in the first nine months of the
year.
FLC Faros announced its post-tax profit for
the third quarter fell 20.8 percent to 62.33 billion VND, cutting its
nine-month combined post-tax profit by 10.3 percent to 208 billion VND.
Other large-cap stocks that also
underperformed on the pressure of profit-taking included Coteccons Construction
Co (CTD), PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), food and beverage producer Masan (MSN) and
brewer Sabeco (SAB).
Among those stocks, MSN edged down 0.8 percent
following its four-session increase of total 7.1 percent.
According to analysts at Bao Viet Securities
Co, the benchmark index is forecast to fall further in the next sessions as the
market lacks supportive business information and large-cap stocks show signs of
losing momentum, resulting in the high selling pressure across all stocks.
The market breadth became more negative as
large-cap stocks were not strong enough to lift the market, making investor
sentiment weaker on worries over the slump of the index, BVSC analyst Tran Xuan
Bach said in the company’s report.
Cash flow would still focus on large-cap
stocks as the market was showing a big divergence among all stocks, signaling
rough trading sessions ahead, he said, adding that the VN Index could fall back
to the range of 825-830 points.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index
lost 0.77 percent to end at 105.16 points. The northern market index has
declined by total 1.2 percent after the last two sessions.
More than 44.4 million shares were traded
on the northern market, worth 497 billion VND.-VNA