HÀ NỘI – Shares moved in opposite directions on the two stock exchanges on Wednesday. Investors’ sentiment was fragile as worry swirled about the possibility of a deeper correction.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index bounced back to over 805 points after first dropping to below 804 points. It closed almost unchanged compared to Tuesday at 805.86 points.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index increased 0.43 per cent to close the trade at 105.18 points. It dropped 0.38 per cent on Tuesday.

Large-cap stocks expanded divergence. In the VN30 basket which tracks the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity, 15 declined and 12 advanced.

Financial, steel and energy stocks were losers yesterday, including BIDV (BID), Sacombank (STB), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), private equity Masan Group (MSN), Hòa Phát Group (HPG), Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Petrolimex (PLX) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD).

Heavyweight stocks which supported the market included Vinamilk (VNM), insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), IT group FPT (FPT), Mobile World Group (MWG) and FLC Faros Construction (ROS).

“The market is still moving sideways in a wide divergence around the current price zone,” said Trần Hải Yến, a stock analyst at Bảo Việt Securities Co. “Cash flows are alternately running into blue chips, helping maintain the index’s trend.”

However, Yến said without the consensus, the influence of cash flows is weak and predicted the market will likely enter a period of short-term downward trend.

Meanwhile, according to FPT Securities Co, the current correction is healthy for the market, as the VN-Index was approaching the short-term resistance level of 810 points. The correction will reduce pressure on share supply while attracting new money flows to provide new momentum for the next rally.

The key market index edged down 0.24 per cent on Tuesday but maintained the monthly upward trend with a rise of 3 per cent since the beginning of this month. It has expanded over 21 per cent compared to the end of last year.

Liquidity continued to decrease, as about 208 million shares worth a combined VNĐ3.84 trillion (US$169.4 million) were traded in the two markets yesterday, down 9.7 per cent in volume and 14.7 per cent in value compared to Tuesday’s levels.

A positive sign was net buying by foreign traders. They were net buyers for a second day on the two exchanges, picking up a total of VNĐ39 billion worth of shares, lifting the two-day net buy value to VNĐ78 billion. – VNS