Shares retreat as US-Iran conflict hits sentiment

 

An investor watches shares move on his own laptop. Pillar stocks simultaneously corrected and put pressure on the market on Wednesday. — VNS Photo Đoàn Tùng

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange slumped 1.03 per cent to close at 948.98 points.

Nearly 319.2 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ5.2 trillion (US$223.4 million).

The index gained 0.32 per cent to close Tuesday at 958.88 points.

Market breath was negative with 263 stocks declining and 78 gaining, while 39 ended flat.

On Tuesday, Iran fired a number of missiles at US air bases in Iraq. Iran aimed to retaliate against the US drone attack which killed a top Iranian official last week, raising concerns about conflict in Middle East.

However, Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran did not want to start a war but exercised its right to self-defence in the UN Charter. He emphasised that Iran had “completed” its retaliation and “did not seek escalation or war but would defend ourselves against any aggression”.

The attack made investors worried about high-risk assets like stocks, which led to a decline in US stock market on Wednesday. S&P futures dropped 1.7 per cent and the benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield fell to a one-month low.

Asian stock markets also decreased across the board. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.57 per cent to end at 23,204.76 points. Meanwhile, in China, the Shanghai Composite, Shenzhen Composite, and blue-chip CSI 300 all declined, respectively by 1.22 per cent, 1.24 per cent, and 1.15 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng stood at 28,087.92 points, down 0.83 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.11 per cent.

According to Reuters, global oil and gold prices surged by about 5 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.

On the local market, gold prices soared to hit a new peak, with the price for one tael of SJC gold sold at around VNĐ44.50 million (US$1,911) at the biggest gold firms of SJC and Bảo Tín Minh Châu.

Pillar stocks corrected and put pressure on the market, including Vinhomes (VHM) (-1.6 per cent), Vietcombank (VCB) (-0.9 per cent), Vincom Retail (VRE) (-3.7 per cent), Techcombank (TCB) (-1.9 per cent), Vingroup (VIC) (-0.3 per cent), Masan Group (MSN) (-1.4 per cent), Vietjet (VJC) (-0.8 per cent), Sabeco (SAB) (-0.4 per cent), Vietinbank (CTG) (-0.2 per cent) and PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) (-0.1 per cent).

On a sector basis, three of the 25 sectors on the market increased, including seafood processing, oil and gas and manufacturing.

In the opposite direction, wholesale, insurance, real estate, securities, information and technology, retail, banking, agriculture, healthcare, agriculture and plastic all decreased.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 1.07 per cent to end at 100.33 points on Wednesday.

Nearly 44.5 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ448 billion.

The northern index increased 0.18 per cent to end Tuesday at 101.42 points.

Foreigners net sold VNĐ160.21 billion on HOSE but were net buyers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ2.37 billion. — VNS