The benchmark VN Index on the HCM
Stock Exchange edged down 0.42 percent to close at 774.03 points. The southern
market index picked up 0.73 percent on August 28.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the
HNX-Index decreased 0.37 percent to end the session at 103.52 points. The
northern market index rallied 1.23 percent in the previous session.
Large-cap stocks led the market
downturn with 23 stocks in the VN30 basket (the 30 largest shares by market
value and liquidity on the HCM Stock Exchange) lost value while only six
gained.
Many stocks tumbled in the At the
Close Order (ATC) under heavy selling pressure which harmed the market. Big
losers included dairy giant Vinamilk, insurer Bao Viet Holdings, confectionery
Kido Group, Sacombank, Vietcombank, Vietinbank, PV Gas, brewery Sabeco, Masan
Group and Novaland Investment Group.
According to Nguyen The Minh, head
of the capital market analysis at Saigon Securities Inc, the market slump on August
29 was likely caused by the withdrawal of VanEck Vectors Vietnam ETF (VNM ETF)
while he indicated that most of the big stocks being sold heavily in the ATC
were in this ETF’s portfolio.
Minh said VNM ETF’s fund
certificates had been trading at a discount to net asset value since the
beginning of August and this might have prompted the fund to withdraw. In
addition, macroeconomic factors and political tension in some countries might
have fueled the withdrawal.
However, Minh reckoned the net
selling would only happen in one or two sessions and not persist in the next
sessions as the fund’s discount situation had declined considerably.
VNM ETF was traded at a 0.98 percent
discount on August 28 on the New York Stock Exchange at 14.49 USD per fund
certificate, higher than 14.07 USD on August 22. Its net asset value reached 293.4
million USD on August 28.
Investors withdrew 2.87 million USD
from VNM ETF last week, marking two consecutive weeks of net selling. The fund
is expected to announce its portfolio restructuring in the third quarter on
September 8.
Cash continued to flow into
speculative stocks in the real estate sector. Six of the 10 most active stocks
on the southern bourse were of property firms, with FLC Group and Hoang Quan
Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate JSC leading with over 60 million shares
and 30.9 million shares being traded, respectively. Others saw trading of 4.5
million to six million shares.
Trading volume was nearly unchanged
with a total of 314.5 million shares traded in the two markets but the value of
trades decreased 5.8 percent from the previous session, exceeding 4.9 trillion
VND (217.7 million USD).-VNA