Shares slowed down during November 9 afternoon’s trade but still closed higher thanks to rallies of several major stocks and strong buys by foreign traders.

Shares slowed down during November 9 afternoon’s trade but still closed higher thanks to rallies of several major stocks and strong buys by foreign traders

The VN-Index inched up 0.08 percent to close the session at 860.40 points on the HCM Stock Exchange, a new 10-year peak, following strong growth of VinGroup (VIC) and Vinamilk (VNM).

This was also the index’s fifth consecutive rising session with cumulative gains of 3.3 percent.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was up 0.12 percent at 105.87 points.

Liquidity remained positive with a total of 197.3 million shares worth a combined 5.1 trillion VND (223.4 million USD) traded in the two markets.

VinGroup, Vietnam’s biggest private real estate developer, climbed 4.7 percent, while the largest stock by market value, Vinamilk, increased 1.4 percent.

Shares of VinGroup have rallied about 50 percent in the last three months, partly thanks to debut of its retail arm Vincom Retail (VRE) which began trading on the HCM Stock Exchange on November 6. Ending September, the company recorded revenue of 57 trillion VND and net profit of 2.1 trillion VND, up 67 percent and 23 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Other substantial gainers on November 9 included Bình Minh Plastics (BMP), up 3.6 percent; Petrolimex (PLX), up 2.3 percent; budget airline Vietjet Air (VJC) and Mobile World Group (MWG), up by less than 1 percent. All of them are among top 30 largest stocks by market value on the HCM City’s bourse.

Divergence was remarkable, however, with many big shares sinking into the red, including VPBank (VPB), Vietcombank (VCB), brewer Sabeco (SAB), steelmaker Hoa Sen Group and FLC Faros Construction (ROS), of which ROS was the biggest loser, down 6.8 percent.

Overall market condition was negative with losing stocks outnumbering gaining ones by 235-212, and 273 closed flat on the two markets.

November 9’s highlight was active trade by foreign investors which supported the market. They were responsible for net buy volume of 4.8 million shares worth 363 billion VND in HCM City’s market. They focused on Vinamilk’s shares with net buy value of 278 billion VND, followed by Vietjet Air with 43 billion VND.

Foreign investors were also net buyers in Hanoi’s market for 1.4 million shares worth 24.3 billion VND.

However, according to BIDV Securities Company, the market was in an unpredictable phase as the intra-day fluctuation in the session was gradually widening.

“With the rebound of cash flow and the support from large-cap stocks, it is likely that the market will continue to move forwards to new highs,” they wrote in a note, but advised investors of a reverse trend as selling pressure often increased when prices rise.-VNA