HÀ NỘI – Shares slowed their decline yesterday as banks recovered, but the market is still exposed to short-term downward corrections on rising investor caution.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched down 0.18 per cent to close at 767.49 points. The key index dropped 1.12 per cent on Monday.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was down just 0.04 per cent to end at 98.6 points after a 1.8-per-cent fall in the last session.

Blue chips remained on a downward spiral as 22 of the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the main bourse in HCM City lost value, and only seven advanced.

Gainers included banks, with three of the four largest listed lenders – Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID) and Military Bank (MBB) – increasing 0.1-0.5 per cent.

Smaller banks like Sacombank (STB) in HCM City’s market, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Bank (SHB) on the Hà Nội’s exchange picked up 0.8-3.4 per cent each.

Industry-leading companies, such as PV Gas (GAS), VinGroup (VIC), Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), Hòa Phát Group (HPG), FPT Corp (FPT), Kido Group (KDC), Masan Group (MSN), Mobile World Group (MWG) and Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) continued to slide.

Overall market breadth was negative with 287 stocks declining, 159 rising and 264 closing unchanged on the two markets.

“Although selling pressure eased compared to the previous two sessions, a reliable signal of a reversal has yet to come,” Trần Đức Anh, a stock analyst at Bảo Việt  Securities Co wrote in yesterday’s report. He suggested investors maintain stock exposure at a moderate level and avoid raising it until the risk of a short-term decline is removed.

Liquidity decreased slightly with a total of 292.5 million shares worth VNĐ5 trillion (US$221.4 million) being traded on the two bourses, down 12.6 per cent in volume and 10.7 per cent in value compared to Monday’s figures.

Foreign traders returned net buyers on the two markets yesterday after a short selling on Monday, picking up shares worth a combined net value of nearly VNĐ86 billion.

Additions to VN30

On Monday, the HCM Stock Exchange announced it was adding shares of FLC Faros Construction Corp (ROS), Novaland Investment Group (NVL) and brewery Sabeco (SAB) to the basket of the VN30, which tracks the 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the southern bourse.

Three companies – Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG), Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Agricultural Investment Co (HNG) and Tân Tạo Investment Industry Corp (ITA) – were removed from the basket.

The new basket takes effect from July 24 to January 19, 2018.

The VN30 has expanded 18.7 per cent since the beginning of this year, outperforming the 15.6 per cent growth of the VN-Index as of July 17. – VNS