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Sell-off pushes down stocks

Hanoi, September 19 (VNA) – September 17’s session repeated itself next day as investors increased selling in the afternoon session, pushing stocks down on both markets.

On the Hochiminh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index lost nearly 10 points or 1.58 percent to close at 615.80 points on September 18.

Blue chips were again the main drags. Among the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity, 22 stocks declined while only six advanced. Gains by Vietcombank (VCB), Masan Group (MSN), Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG) and Sacombank (STB) helped cushion the decline.

The VN30 fell 0.91 percent to end at 659.63 points. Oil and gas-related shares ended their winning streak as stocks like PetroVietnam Engineering Consultancy Co (PVE), PetroVietnam Drilling Mud Corp (PVC) and Petrovietnam - Nghe An Investment & Trading Co (PXA) dropped to the floor under heavy selling pressure.

Liquidity remained high with nearly 180 million shares worth 3.57 trillion VND (169 million USD) traded by the end of the session.

FLC Group (FLC) secured the position of the most active share on the southern bourse with more than 17 million shares traded, but the share price sank 2.5 percent to 11,700 VND (0.55 USD) per share.

Analysts at FPT Securities Co said the market was seeing a correction as investors continued to sell shares to realise cash profits after a very long winning streak that sent the VN-Index to a more than six-year high.

Rising bad debts also overshadowed the stock market, with nonperforming loans climbing to 4.11 percent in July from 3.61 percent at the end of 2013, according to the State Bank of Vietnam.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also slipped 2.31 percent to finish at 88.07 points on September 18.

Investors sold securities, oil and gas shares, which showed strong growth in recent months.

Market volume declined 20 percent from the previous session, totaling nearly 113 million shares, while trading value fell 25 percent to 1.72 trillion VND (81.5 million USD).

PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) was again the most active here on trades of 12.4 million shares, but their price dove 4.8 percent to end at 6,000 VND a share.

Foreign investors remained net sellers in HCM City, unloading 72.3 billion VND (6.9 million USD) worth of shares, but were net buyers in Hanoi's market, collecting shares worth 78.3 billion VND (3.7 million USD).
VNA/VNP


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