An investor looks at stock prices on a screen at a brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.23% to 1,257.50 points Friday, having hovered around the 1,260 level since the beginning of the month.
The index closed 2.83 points higher after dropping 11.33 points in the previous session.
Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased by 24% to VND13.53 trillion (US$532 million).
The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 14 tickers gained.
BCM of Becamex Investment and Industrial Development led with a 1.8% rise, followed by VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, up 1.7%.
MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World gained 1.3% and SSB of SeABank closed 1.2% higher.
Twelve blue chips closed in the red, with BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings recording the biggest loss at 2.3%.
POW of electricity producer Petrovietnam Power Corporation dropped 1.6% and PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex fell 1%.
Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND30 billion, mainly buying VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk and VIX of VIX Securities Jsc.
The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 0.21%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went up 0.72%.
Asian shares hit a fresh three-month low on Friday as investors awaited key U.S. inflation data that could either ease or worsen concerns about stubbornly high price pressures, while the dollar towered at two-year peaks, Reuters reported.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.6% on Friday to a fresh three-month low and was headed for a weekly drop of 3%.
Japan’s Nikkei was flat but down 1.7% for the week. It was up a whopping 16% for the year, in part due to the weakness in the yen, which has depreciated 12% in 2024 and drew constant intervention warnings from Japanese authorities.
