Stock trade dips to 4-week low

With 176 gainers and 111 losers, the main index inched up 0.25 point, or 0.03%, from the day earlier to close at 951.41. The HCMC market saw 131.5 million shares worth VND2.6 trillion transacted, both down around 19% versus Tuesday.

Some large cap stocks extended their gains from Tuesday to cushion the market. The VN30 basket saw 19 stocks advancing and 10 others declining.

Among gainers, leading property firm VIC gained over 1.1% to close at the intraday high of VND115,900. Dairy enterprise VNM added 0.3% at VND127,500 and beverage company SAB advanced 0.37% at VND274,000.

Most securities firms said market developments today were normal as Tuesday’s gain was regarded as a technical increase.

According to Bao Viet Securities Company, if the market gets some supporting news, the VN-Index is forecast to head towards the resistance zone from 958 to 963 points in the coming sessions. However, short-term risk is still in sight as foreign investors are concerned about the trade war between the United States and China.

Quoting a report of VNDirect Securities Corporation (VNDS), the Vietnam News Agency noted that Vietnam’s exports and industrial output have increased in recent months as the country is considered a short-term beneficiary of the trade war.

“In addition, foreign direct investment (FDI) from China into Vietnam nearly doubled from the same period last year. We see resilient export growth and robust FDI inflows providing the country with a buffer against further escalation in the U.S.-China trade war,” according the report.

VNDS said that this round of Chinese yuan depreciation would be no different compared to last year because a sharper depreciation could add more uncertainty to the trade negotiation process and was unlikely to help China.

“We see less depreciation pressure on the Vietnamese dong compared to last year, thanks to better guidance from the State Bank of Vietnam to the foreign exchange market and less funding pressure from strong U.S. dollar given the Federal Reserve’s dovishness,” VNDS said in the report.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose 0.48 point, or 0.47%, at 103.54. Trading volume jumped 18.2% against the previous day at 20.3 million shares while value increased 8.2% at VND240 billion.