HÀ NỘI — Investors increased bargain purchases in yesterday’s afternoon trade when the benchmark VN-Index retreated near 1,000 points, but this was not enough to help the market close in green when foreign traders accelerated selling.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index dropped for a second day this week, down 0.25 per cent to close at 1,026.46 points. It declined over 2 per cent on Wednesday.

Many large-cap shares improved, which was shown in the higher number of gainers (16 against 11) in the VN30 basket which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity on the southern exchange.

Gainers included big banks like Vietinbank (CTG) and Vietcombank (VCB), up 6.4 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively; insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), up 3.2 per cent; and brewer Sabeco (SAB), up 2 per cent.

However, steel and gas companies continued to dive due to poor Q1 earnings.

PV Gas (GAS), Việt Nam’s biggest LPG supplier and fifth largest listed company, suffered the highest daily decrease of 7 per cent for four sessions in a row. PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Service Corp (PVD) also recorded a fourth declining trade with cumulative loss of almost 20 per cent in the last four sessions.

According to Viet Dragon Securities Corp, GAS was still affected by the news that PetroVietnam will delay its divestment scheme this year, while as for PVD, its loss of VNĐ239 billion in Q1’s results seemed to be the reason.

Shares of steelmaker Hoa Sen Group (HSG) also dropped by the daily limit of 7 per cent for two consecutive days following the company’s report of a fall of 80 per cent in its net profit in the first quarter.

“Bottom-fishing  demand  in  the  last  minutes  today  opened  an  opportunity  for VN-Index to recover in the next sessions. However, due to the cautiousness of investors, this rise of the index may be moderate,” said Trần Hải Yến, an analyst of Bảo Việt Securities Joint Stock Company.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index recouped most of its loss on Wednesday, rising 1.27 per cent to end yesterday at 122.51 points. The northern market index fell 1.36 per cent on Wednesday.

A total of over 256 million shares worth a combined VNĐ7.3 trillion (US$320.2 million) were traded in the two markets, up 11.8 per cent in volume and 14.3 per cent in value compared to the previous session.

Foreign investors extended their net selling yesterday, offloading shares worth total net sell value of nearly VNĐ800 billion on both exchanges. Their sells focused on shares on the HCM Stock Exchange with net value of VNĐ775 billion, a rise of 116 per cent against Wednesday’s value. – VNS