‘Boring’ day on both exchanges
HA NOI (VNS)— Market performance was mixed on the two national stock exchanges yesterday as investors reacted weakly to modest GDP growth in the first quarter, which is estimated at 4.89 per cent.
Shares opened low on the HCM City exchange yesterday morning but gradually improved with the benchmark VN-Index gaining 0.37 per cent to close yesterday’s session at 491.26 points.
Trading was sluggish, however, with nearly 39 million shares worth VND757 billion (US$36 million) changing hands, down 17 per cent in volume and 9 per cent in value compared to the previous session.
Decliners edged advancers by 107-101 while the other 101 codes closed flat.
“The trading atmosphere is quite boring,” FPTS Securities Co’s analysts commented on the company’s website.
Trading of shares of transport firm Gemadept (GMD) was the bright spot in yesterday’s session, they said. GMD hit its ceiling price for a third straight day, closing at VND39,400 a share.
It was rumoured that GMD signed a contract yesterday to sell the Gemadept Tower building in HCM City to a Korean partner for over $45 million. The transfer is expected to be completed within the next 3-4 months and this amount will be recorded in the company’s profits in the second quarter.
However, no official information about the deal has yet been disclosed.
With over half of the shares in the VN30 closing flat, the VN30 was down 0.42 per cent to 554.83 points. Tan Tao Investment-Industry (ITA) was again the most active code yesterday with 2.7 million shares changing hands, sliding 2.78 per cent to VND7,000 a share.
Meanwhile, the HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange lost 0.38 per cent to finish yesterday’s session at 60.62 points on a total trading value of VND247.2 billion ($11.8 million).
Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB) is leading the northern market trades with over 6.9 million shares exchanged, closing flat at VND6,700 a share.
Foreign investors remained net buyers on both exchanges, responsible for a combined net buy of VND51.6 billion ($2.5 million) worth of shares. — VNS