HANOI: Vietnamese shares extended losses on both local bourses for a third day as banks fell amid investor expectations that interest rate hikes in the US and Europe could undermine the profitability of local financial firms.
The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange fell 1.7 per cent to close at 573.20 points. The southern index has dropped 3.8 per cent during three days.
The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange declined by 1.1 per cent to finish at 80.61 points. The northern index has gone down 1.7 per cent in the last three days.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to cut its interest rates by 20 basis points at a meeting on Thursday while the US central bank is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points by the middle of this month. These moves are expected to make the Vietnamese dong weaker and hurt bank profits, Maritime Securities Incorporate (MSI) wrote in the weekly forecast.
The banking sector led the market decline as its index lost 3.3 per cent. Vietcombank (VCB) lost 3.2 per cent, BIDV (BID) slumped by 4.2 per cent, CTG dropped 3.7 per cent and Sacombank (STB) fell 6 per cent.
In addition, energy stocks such as PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) declined on decreasing global oil prices after they made sharp gains last week.
The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped 3.1 per cent to close at $41.71 a barrel on Friday. The WTI jumped 6.6 per cent to trade at $43.04 a barrel on Thursday.
As a result, GAS lost 4 per cent, PVS dropped 2 per cent and PVD fell 2.8 per cent. The national stock market traded 183 million shares, worth VND2.65 trillion ($117.7 million), a decrease of 11 per cent from last week’s average trading value.
