Shares mixed ahead of Fed

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged down 0.3 per cent to close yesterday's session at 554.93 points. It gained 0.5 per cent on Friday.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index declined for a third day in a row, losing 0.4 per cent to end at 75.99 points.

"Investors are cautious in this period, especially ahead of the US Federal Reserve's meeting on September 16-17," said Bui Nguyen Khoa, an analyst at BIDV Securities Co.

Domestic investors have been paying closer attention to global factors after the Vietnamese stock market took a big hit from the recent Chinese stock rout.

Khoa said stocks will likely trade in a narrow band and with light liquidity in the short term.

"I think the VN-Index will trade between 550-560 points in the near future and could bounce higher if we get positive news," Khoa said.

Only 20 per cent of stocks increased yesterday, 33 per cent decreased while the others closed unchanged.

Liquidity remained low on the two exchanges.

More than 75 million shares worth VND1.7 trillion (US$75.6 million) were traded in HCM City's market, lower than an average of 116 million shares worth VND2.1 trillion ($93.3 million) per session seen in August.

In Ha Noi, almost 28 million shares worth VND313.6 billion (nearly $14 million) were exchanged yesterday, also lower than August's average of 45.5 million shares worth VND487 billion ($21.6 million) per day.

Only 22 out of total 675 stocks on the two exchanges had trades of over 1 million shares, of which real estate FLC Group (FLC) and Quang Nam Rubber Investment (VHG) saw the highest volume at over 4 million shares traded on each stock.