HÀ NỘI – Vietnamese shares ended on Friday on different notes, with investors’ confidence mixed on the last day in which exchange-traded funds (ETFs) completed their portfolio reviews.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched down 0.07 per cent to close at 935.16 points. It had gained 1.24 per cent on Thursday.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange gained 0.13 per cent to end at 111.61 points, for a two-day increase of 1 per cent.

The VN Index and the HNX Index have respectively lost 0.5 per cent and 1.9 per cent this week. They have declined by a total of 3.6 per cent and 4.4 per cent so far in December.

More than 293.5 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth VNĐ6.9 trillion (US$306.7 million).

The trading figures represented an increase of 35 per cent in volume and nearly 48 per cent in value compared to Thursday.

Friday was the last day in which ETFs finalised the restructuring of their investment portfolios for next year. That activity was widely said to account for the sharp rise of the market’s trading liquidity.

Foreign investors posted a net sell value of VNĐ248 billion on both local markets, four times the figure recorded on Thursday.

Dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), food and beverage firm Masan (MSN), property developer Vingroup (VIC) and fishery company Sao Mai Group (ASM) saw share values down as these stocks were either removed or offloaded from the ETFs’ investment portfolios.

The four stocks declined by between 2 per cent and 6.6 per cent. The fall of VNM, MSN and VIC was to blame for the decline of the VN Index on Friday.

Among those four stocks, VNM was down 2 per cent to end at VNĐ197,000 per share after having rallied a total of 8 per cent in the previous five sessions.

Insurance-banking companies, energy firms and steel producers played main roles in driving the markets up against strong foreign selling.

Five of the 10 bank stocks advanced at least 1 per cent, including Eximbank (EIB), Sacombank (STB), Vietcombank (VCB) and MBBank (MBB).

Rising liquidity also supported securities stocks such as Vietinbank Securities (CTS), FPT Securities (FTS), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and PetroVietnam Securities (PSI).

Steel companies also advanced with Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Hòa Phát Group (HPG) raising 2.5 per cent and 2.6 per cent.

According to Bảo Việt Securities Company (BVSC), domestic investors were prepared ahead of the ETFs’ portfolio review and they were able to absorb the strong foreign selling from foreign investors.

The flow of money into the stock market was expected to increase in the short term as it did on Friday, BVSC said in its daily report, adding that the cash flow could lift the benchmark VN Index up again to the range of 965-970 points in the near future. – VNS