A customer performing a transaction at a Vietinbank branch in Hà Nội. Vietinbank (CTG) hit the daily limit rise of 7 per cent on Tuesday. — Photo cafef.vn

HÀ NỘI — Shares reclaimed some of the ground lost in the previous day’s sharp sell-off on worries about the COVID-19 outbreak.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 0.70 per cent to close Tuesday at 909.67 points.

The VN-Index had lost 3.19 per cent to close on 903.34 points Monday.

Market sentiment was more stable as liquidity returned to an average low. More than 221 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ3.9 trillion (US$168 million).

Market breadth was positive with 218 stocks gaining and 142 declining.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index increased by 1.45 per cent to close at 849.58 points.

Nineteen of the 30 largest stocks by market value and trading liquidity in the VN30 basket gained ground while nine declined.

“In Việt Nam, with the Government’s efforts and measures, we expect the impact of COVID-19 epidemic to be minimal. However, the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea will create more challenges for Việt Nam's economy, especially after the stall in economic activities with China,” said Bảo Việt Securities Co (BVSC).

“Notably, if the delay in trade with China has a negative impact on the demand side, the one with South Korea places more impacts on the supply side to Việt Nam's economy. Currently, Việt Nam is an important link in the global production chain of many Korean electronics businesses, such as Samsung, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of Việt Nam's total exports.”

“Any interruption in the supply of raw materials will disrupt these production activities, whereby the manufacturing industry, Việt Nam's driving force for growth over the years, will be seriously affected,” BVSC said.

Banking stocks on Tuesday attracted bottom-fishing cash flow as investors sought stocks that suffered sharp falls in the previous session.

Gainers included Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID) up 5.4 per cent, Vietinbank (CTG) rising 7 per cent and VPBank (VPB) up 5.6 per cent.

In the opposite direction, some other pillars performed poorly, with Vietcombank (VCB), Vinhomes (VHM) and PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) all down 1.1 per cent.

On a sector basis, wholesale, retail, insurance, real estate, securities, information and technology, oil and gas, banking, agriculture, rubber production, food and beverage, construction and construction materials were the market’s supporters on Tuesday.

Foreign investors net sold VNĐ112.57 billion on HOSE, including Vietcombank (VCB) (VNĐ68.74 billion), Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Company (HAG) (VNĐ19.49 billion) and Novaland (NVL) (VNĐ12.24 billion). They were net sellers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ14.83 billion.

According to Bảo Việt Securities Co (BVSC), the VN-Index is forecast to head toward resistance zone 920-925 points in several sessions. However, after the plunge Monday, the market’s downward risk remains high.

“Therefore, if unsuccessfully retesting the support zone 891- 898 points, the market will face another declining risk in the short term to strong medium-term support zone 865-880 points,” BVSC said in its report.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index gained 2.39 per cent to end Tuesday at 106.66 points.

The northern market index had dropped 3.62 per cent to end at 104.18 points Monday.

Nearly 50.9 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ626.2 billion. — VNS