HANOI: Shares inched lower for a second straight day, weighed down by banks and oil companies. The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged down 0.04 per cent at closing time, finishing yesterday at 590.2 points. The Index decreased 0.7 per cent on Tuesday.
On the smaller bourse in Ha Noi, the HNX-Index extended losses by another 0.2 per cent to end the session at 80.8 points. It slipped 0.5 per cent on Tuesday. Overall market conditions were negative with 33.6 per cent of a total of 679 trading stocks declined and 22.5 per cent advanced.
“The falling of the VN-Index and HNX-Index in late trading indicates that investors may be losing patience with the market,” said Nguyen Quoc Truong, an analyst at BIDV Securities Co.
Truong said the rally earlier this month was mainly due to positive effects from the successful conclusion of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement and it was possible that the Index would fall back to 575 points if there were no more good news released in the market.
Bank and oil shares were among the biggest losers. Five of nine listed banks lost value while only two advanced. Military Bank (MBB) and Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB) declined 1.4 per cent and others were down less than 1 per cent.
Large-cap oil and gas companies like PV Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp (PVS) and PetroVietnam Southern Gas Corp (PGS) also lost around 1 per cent.
US benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 1.9 per cent while Brent crude slipped 1.5 per cent when the Vietnamese markets closed. On the other end of spectrum, shares of auto dealers rose on the bright prospect of third-quarter earnings.
Three auto shares including Truong Long Auto & Technology Co (HTL), TMT Automobile Co (TMT) and Saigon General Service Corp (SVC) hit the daily limit increase of 7 per cent while Hoang Huy Investment Services Corp (HHS) rose 2.9 per cent.
Of these companies, Hoang Huy yesterday reported a 42.3 per cent rise in revenue in the third quarter to VND751 billion (US$33.5 million) while its net profit more than doubled from the same period of last year, reaching VND81.2 billion ($3.6 million).
On Tuesday, Truong Long Auto also posted an impressive earnings result with a third-quarter net profit rising 228 per cent year-on-year to VND39.7 billion ($1.8 million). The company attributed the result to a jump on the sale of trucks and passenger cars. A total of nearly 140 million shares worth VND2.24 trillion ($100 million) were traded in the two markets by the end of the session.
