HÀ NỘI – Vietnamese shares continued to sink into negative territory for a fourth day as investor confidence remained low amid fears of a possible US rate hike in June and oil prices extended their falls.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange slipped 0.6 per cent to finish at 611.03 points. The southern index has tumbled 2.2 per cent over the last four trading days.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange also decreased by 0.6 per cent to end at 81.27 points, totalling a four-day loss of 1.1 per cent.

Investor confidence remained low as analysts and global traders became more certain that the US central bank will make its first rate hike in June since the last one in December.

A rate hike will boost the US dollar on the global market and force central banks, including Việt Nam’s, to weaken their currencies to protect their economies and keep local markets attractive to foreign investors.

Yesterday, Việt Nam’s central bank cut its daily reference mid-point rate by VNĐ5 to VNĐ21,913 for a US dollar. The mid-point rate has remained high over the last four sessions.

As a result, financial firms suffered from low investor confidence and a higher trading rate between Vietnamese đồng and the dollar.

Banks led the financial sector down with six out of nine listed banks going down. The biggest losers were Vietcombank (VCB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Vietinbank (CTG) and the Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID).

VCB fell 2.7 per cent, ACB slumped 3.1 per cent, while CTG and BID went down by 2.3 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.

Additionally, energy stocks stepped further into negative territory after global oil prices went down as Canada plans to resume production after the recent wildfires.

US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 1.3 per cent to trade at US$47.80 a barrel and London-traded Brent crude dropped 1.1 per cent to trade at $48.20 a barrel.

Local energy stocks that saw declines included PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Service Corp (PVD), and PetroVietnam Mud Drilling Corp (PVC), which were slashed 1.7 per cent, 3.8 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively.

On the positive side, investors witnessed sharp gains in the textile and garment firm Mirae JSC (KMR) and cell phone retailer Mobile World Investment Corp (MWG), which jumped 5.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively.

Both local markets exchanged nearly 144 million shares worth VNĐ2.3 trillion (US$103 million), a quarter lower than last week’s daily trading value. – VNS