Investors flock to sell SAB shares

SAB early this week objected the decision, saying that the decision goes against the 2006 Law on Tax Administration. Earlier, on December 30, it sent a document to the State Securities Commission and the Hochiminh Stock Exchange stating that the HCMC Tax Department had sought the amount from the firm on December 28.

Closing the session, SAB plunged to the floor price of VND248,800. The stock reported poor transaction with just nearly 47,000 shares traded.

Other blue chips on the market also decreased, causing the VN-Index of the Hochiminh Stock Exchange to ebb a modest 0.79 point, or 0.09%, versus last Friday at 891.75. Market turnover contracted due to cautious trading, with volume and value shedding 36.6% and 22.9% at 111.5 million shares worth VND2.7 trillion, respectively.

Most bank stocks lost ground, in which BID was the biggest loser for dipping 2.6% at VND33,500. CTG fell 1.5% at VND19,000, VPB slid 2.7% at VND19,400 while VPB even tumbled to the floor price of VND28,200.

Among gainers, VIC made the most positive moves as the property firm soared 5.3% at VND100,400. VNM, a dairy enterprise, gained 3.3% at VND124,000 and consumer goods producer MSN added 1.4% at VND78,600.

ITA, an industrial zone operator, again turned the volume leader on the southern market with six million shares traded but it dropped 5.2% at VND2,900. Construction firm ROS ranked second with 4.3 million shares exchanged, slumping 4.6% at VND36,900, followed by steel maker HPG with 4.2 million shares.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index dipped 1.56 points, or 1.5%, at 102.6. There were 20.6 million shares valued at VND313 billion changing hands at the end of the day, down 45.3% and 31.2% against the previous session, respectively.

Among large caps, lender ACB, the biggest stock in terms of market capitalization on the northern market, fell over 1.3% at VND29,200. Stone producer VCS, meanwhile, plunged to the floor price of VND60,900.

For index supporters, construction firm VCG added 1.7% at VND23,000 and lender SHB closed at the reference price of VND7,200. The two stocks were the most actively traded stocks with matching volume of two million shares and 2.5 million shares, respectively.