An investor looks at stock prices on the screens at a brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index fell 0.44% to 1,279.77 points Monday while Asian shares dipped.
The index closed 5.69 points lower after dropping 1.06 points in the previous session.
Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased by 7% to VND14.347 trillion (US$567.8 million).
The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 23 tickers fell.
CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank went down 2.1%, GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group slipped 1.81%, and PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex dropped 1.77%.
Five blue chips gained. VHM of property giant Vinhomes saw a 5.6% increase, VRE of retail real estate arm Vincom Retail closed 1.9% higher, and VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup rose 1.1%.
Foreign investors were net seller to the tune of VND269 billion, mainly selling FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation and STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank.
The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 0.78%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went down 0.60%.
Globally, Asia shares dipped in and out of positive territory on Monday, under pressure from weakness in Hong Kong stocks, Reuters reported.
Though China cut its benchmark lending rates on Monday, the move was anticipated.
China’s blue-chip index swung between losses and gains in early trade, before turning decisively higher by the Asian afternoon, helped by a rise in technology companies. The benchmark was 0.4% higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.31%.
That failed to excite Hong Kong markets, however, where stocks fell more than 1%, pushing MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.26%, a step back in sentiment after U.S. stocks posted a sixth straight week of gains on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.12%
