Vietnamese shares on Wednesday continued to lose ground and encounter fluctuations but the strong gain of oil stocks helped narrow market losses.

 

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange was down 0.14 per cent, closing the session at 984.46 points.

 

The southern market index was down 0.28 per cent, closing at 985.81 points on Tuesday.

 

Nearly 217 million shares, worth VNĐ4.4 trillion (US$188 million), were traded on the southern bourse.

 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 0.17 per cent to end Wednesday at 107.30 points.

 

The northern market index lost 0.22 per cent to end at 107.48 points on Tuesday.

 

The blue-chip VN30 Index was down 0.23 per cent to 901.50 points.

 

Twenty of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation ended in negative territory while seven increased. The remaining three ended flat.

 

On a sector basis, 10 of the 20 sectors saw share prices drop, including real estate, securities, insurance and food and beverages.

 

The 10 industry indices were down between 0.3 and 1.2 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

 

Large-caps like HDBank (HDB), Vietinbank (CTG), Saigon Securities Company (SSI), insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), Việt Nam Construction and Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation (VCG) and Vincom Retail (VRE) saw big drops and put pressure on the market indices.

 

Meanwhile, petroleum stocks traded in positive territory, boosted by the increase of oil prices.

 

Oil prices rose for a fourth day on Wednesday thanks to OPEC’s further tightening of supply.

 

According to Reuters, Brent futures climbed 35 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $69.72 a barrel, after reaching $69.87, the highest since November 12 and near the psychologically important level of $70 per barrel.

 

US West Texas Intermediate crude extended by 22 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $62.80 cents a barrel, earlier going up to $62.90, the highest since November 7.

 

On the Vietnamese stock market, PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), Drilling Mud Joint Stock Corporation (PVC), PetroViet Nam Coating JSC (PVB) and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) went up between 0.5 and 6.1 per cent, according to data on vietstock.vn.

 

According to Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities JSC (SHS), liquidity declined and remained below the average level of the last 20 sessions, which showed that investors were cautious and chose to observe the market.

 

Foreign investors also net sold about VNĐ44 billion on both exchanges and this had a negative impact on market sentiment, SHS said.

 

Việt Dragon Securities Company (VDSC) said in its daily report that domestic demand seemed weak. There are not many options to disburse at this time.

 

“Some small and mid-cap stocks increased, but the number was not much. Low liquidity remained a concern. Investors should hold their disbursements until there are more positive signs,” VDSC said.

 

The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) edged down 0.81 per cent to finish at 56.64 points. VNS