An investor in front of a digital board inside the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Market liquidity on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) improved significantly in April, with average trading volume and value per session up by 24.6 per cent and 21.4 per cent over the previous month to 641 million shares and VNĐ11.12 trillion (US$474.25 million), respectively, the southern bourse reported.

Ending the last trading session of April, the benchmark VN-Index reached 1,049.12 points, a month-on-month decrease of 1.46 per cent but an increase of 4.17 per cent over the end of last year. VNAllshare reached 1,013.89 points, down 0.29 per cent month-on-month and up 4.45 per cent over the end of last year.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index reduced by 2.07 per cent compared to the previous month to close at 1,051.43 points; however, the figure was 4.6 per cent higher than that recorded at the end of last year.

Shares of the healthcare sector posted the highest growth with the VNHEAL Index gaining 8.05 per cent over the preceding month. It was followed by shares of the industrial sector (VNIND), up 3.88 per cent; and those of the material sector (VNMAT) rising 2.37 per cent.

In contrast, shares of the consumer staples sector (UNCONS) and the financial sector (VNFIN) declined by 3.13 per cent and 1.33 per cent, respectively.

Notably, stock market liquidity improved significantly in April, according to HOSE.

Regarding the trading of covered warrants (CW), an average of 9.98 million CWs, worth nearly VNĐ8.6 billion ($366,654) per session, were traded on the bourse per session, a decrease of 32.8 per cent in volume but a rise of 21.5 per cent in value against March.

Total transaction value of foreign investors in the month reached over VNĐ36.4 trillion ($1.55 billion), accounting for more than 8.2 per cent of the total trading value on the bourse.

Foreign investors were net sellers in the month with a value of more than VNĐ2.5 trillion ($106.6 million).

As of the end of last month, 476 securities codes had been listed on HOSE, including 400 stocks, three close-end fund certificates, 12 exchange-traded funds (ETF) and 61 covered warrants. The number of shares listed on the bourse exceeded 141.2 billion.

Market capitalisation on HOSE reached more than VNĐ4.18 quadrillion ($178 billion) by the end of last month, a month-on-month decrease of 1.46 per cent, accounting for 94.16 per cent of the total market capitalisation and nearly 44 per cent of last year’s GDP.

As many as 36 HOSE-listed companies had market capitalisation reaching over $1 billion and one hitting over $10 billion (Vietcombank).

According to experts, the stock market is expected to be less gloomy in the coming months as the Government has taken a series of initiatives to boost the country’s economic growth such as tax cuts, monetary stimulus, and administrative measures. — VNS