VietNamNet Bridge - Blue chip wash outs concluded a disappointing week for domestic investors.

On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index lost 9.76 per cent last week to close at 432.87 points – the lowest standing since November 22, 2010.

Blue chips contributed to the market loss by falling 11.57 per cent, with key pillars such as insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and multi-business Masan Group (MSN) fell consecutively to their floor prices.

BVH closed last Friday at VND77,500, down from VND90,000 last Monday while MSN closed last Friday at VND97,000 down from Monday’s VND117,000.

“As the pacemakers for the VN-Index in recent months, which took turns leading the VN-Index and boosted it to 480 points in April, it was hard to accept their wash-out in just one week,” said Nguyen Van Khanh from a Ha Noi-based securities company.

Khanh watched Vietcombank after it announced a big additional listing from the State’s holdings which lifted its shares (VCB) to the ceiling price in two earlier sessions sending VCB to the top as the new VN-Index pacemaker.

“Unfortunately, the wash-out was big enough to stagnate the trading in VCB,” he said, blaming the media for mentioning a new VN-Index calculation at an inopportune moment.

“Blue chips are the most popular stocks among foreign investors and exchange-traded funds who seems to be the most active in domestic markets right now,” he said, revealing that this sector purchased a net VND74.2 billion (US$3.5 million) last week, compared to VND45.5 billion ($2.2 million) in the previous week.

“But the recalculation plan (which may not be governed by blue chips) might worry them to boost sell-offs or restructure their investment portfolio,” he added, noting substantial sell-offs by this sector last Friday.

The value of the HCM City Stock Exchange enjoyed a 16 per cent increase over the previous week to VND517 billion ($24.6 million) per day on an average volume of 26 million shares traded.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell 6.12 per cent last week, plunging to a historic low of 76.98 points.

Value of the Ha Noi market rose 2.76 per cent to VND306.4 billion ($14.6 million) per session, with nearly 25 million shares traded each day.

“Although the value sounds higher and hints at attempts to buy at low prices, the figure is modest,” said analysts at FPT Securities, who blamed the poor performance on instabilities in the credit system.

They noted the deposit rates on the open-market which increased from 14 per cent to 15 per cent, and the climbing deposit rates in commercial banks forced the State Bank of Viet Nam to post more warnings to credit institutes.

“It sounds like the State Bank is insisting on the target to curb inflation,” Khanh said. “As a result, the stock markets may continue this bearing until the third quarter”.

The May inflation rate for Ha Noi City was released late last week revealing a lower increase of 1.76 per cent compared to the March and April rates. The nation’s inflation rate is expected to be lower in May, “but this hardly encourages a loosened monetary system right away”, said Khanh.

The FPT Securities’ analysts said that the sharp fall last week might create some technical rallies this week “but the capital boost could remain cautious”.

Source: VNS