HANOI: Vietnam’s benchmark VN Index was nearly flat at the break on Monday, edging down 0.06 percent, with gains in several big caps offsetting losses in most shares. Banks led gainers with a 0.63-percent rise of Vietcombank , the country’s second-biggest firm by market value, while food producer Masan Group dropped 0.67 percent.
Shares of automobile firms outperformed the market thanks to a possible higher tax rate on imported cars, which may shift consumers’ demand to domestic branches, analysts said. Automobile manufacturer TMT Motor climbed 7.0 percent and Truong Long Engineering and Auto rose 6.72 percent.
The index, Southeast Asia’s best performer so far this year, gained a combined 0.82 percent in the week ended Friday, slowing from a rise of 0.94 percent in the previous week, Reuters data showed.
