Stocks shine thanks to large-cap firms

 

Customers shop for jewellery products at a store in HCM City.—VNA/VNS Photo Anh Vũ

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares swung to end Thursday on a positive note as investors shifted their attention to large-cap firms in the retail and insurance sectors ahead of their annual shareholder meetings.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 0.25 per cent to close at 986.91 points.

The southern market index lost total 0.42 per cent in the previous two trading days.

More than 165.3 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ3.32 trillion (US$142.4 million).

Trading figures were down nearly 24 per cent in volume and 28.4 per cent in value from the previous day.

Gaining stocks outnumbered decliners by 178 to 113, proving the market sentiment was slightly positive.

The stock market was clearly positive in the afternoon trading session as key sectors either turned to the positive side from the negative one or extended their growth further.

The banking and real estate sector indices closed up 0.3 per cent each. The two indices were down in the morning.

The insurance-finance business index expanded its growth to 1.3 per cent in the afternoon from 0.8 per cent in the early trade.

Driving the insurance sector up were Bảo Minh Insurance Corp (BMI) and Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), which gained 6.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.

Thursday was also the ex-dividend date for Bảo Minh Insurance shareholders, meaning the company shares were traded without the value of its next dividend payment.

Friday is the last day for the company shareholders to sign up and attend the upcoming annual shareholder meeting, which will be held on April 25.

Retailers also made good efforts to boost the market, especially Phú Nhuận Jewellery JSC (PNJ) after revealing its files to be introduced at its annual shareholder meeting.

On top of the proposals, PNJ targets VNĐ18.2 trillion in total revenue in 2019, up 25 per cent year on year, and VNĐ1.18 trillion in post-tax profit, up 23 per cent year on year.

The company also plans to raise the dividend payout rate by 2 per cent to 20 per cent this year. PNJ shares gained 2 per cent on Thursday.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.11 per cent to end at 107.42 points.

The northern market index was down total 0.39 per cent in the previous two trading days.

More than 30 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ402 billion.

According to Thành Công Securities JSC (TCSC), declining liquidity proves investors are very cautious at the moment and they are unwilling to jump in with current conditions.

“The VN-Index has not changed from the fact it may continue falling in the short term,” TCSC said in its daily report.

The benchmark index may continue swinging at the current level with mixed performance among local stocks and it is unlikely investors will be able to take short-term profits, TCSC added. — VNS