Energy stocks hold Việt Nam markets up

May 26, 2016 - 02:00

Vietnamese shares struggled to stay in positive territory yesterday as the energy sector benefited from a recent recovery in global oil prices.

Photo taken of a trading session at Bảo Việt Securities Corp. Recent gains in oil prices yesterday held local markets up against low investor confidence for a weaker Vietnamese đồng against the US dollar. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt
Viet Nam News

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares struggled to stay in positive territory yesterday as the energy sector benefited from a recent recovery in global oil prices.

Local market indices were almost flat. The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange ended at 611.89 points, extending slight gains for a second day, and the HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange rebounded to close at 81.27 points.

Local energy firms were the centre of attention yesterday as they received a strong boost from continuous gains in global prices over the last three days.

US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and London-traded Brent crude gained 1 per cent each to trade at above US$49 a barrel.

US crude has increased by 2.8 per cent in the last three sessions and Brent crude has added 1.5 per cent in the last two trading days.

Energy stocks rose between 1.1 per cent and 1.8 per cent, including PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS), PetroVietnam Technical Service Corp (PVS), PetroVietnam Mud Drilling Corp (PVC) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Service Corp (PVD).

Additionally, a growth of 0.9 per cent to 156.5 yen per kilo in rubber prices on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange also helped rubber producers like Đà Nẵng Rubber JSC (DRC), Sao Vàng Rubber JSC (SRC), the Southern Rubber Industry JSC (CSM), Hòa Bình Rubber JSC (HRC) and Đồng Phú Rubber JSC (DPR) increase.

These stocks advanced between 0.3 per cent and 2.6 per cent yesterday.

On the contrary, local markets lacked support from the banking sector as the industry was mixed and leading banks either had slight gains or remained flat.

Vietcombank (VCB) inched up 0.2 per cent while Vietinbank (CTG), the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID) and Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Bank (SHB) were unchanged.

On the other side, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Military Bank (MBB) and Sacombank (STB) declined between 0.5 per cent and 2.6 per cent.

Banks might have suffered from investors’ cautiousness over a weaker Vietnamese đồng after the Chinese yuan slumped to its lowest level against the US dollar since March 2011 amid fears that the US central bank will increase interest rates in June. Such expectations have boosted the dollar in recent trading days.

Yesterday, Việt Nam’s central bank raised its daily reference mid-point rate by VNĐ11 to VNĐ21,921 for a dollar.

Both local markets traded more than 192 million shares worth VNĐ2.8 trillion ($124 million), an increase of 9 per cent from Wednesday’s trading value. — VNS

E-paper