Vietnam Stocks Down at Midday Despite Good News on Inflation

The government estimated that inflation fell below 10 percent in May for the first time since October 2010, which could give the central bank more room to ease policy to boost flagging growth.

On Wednesday, a state-run newspaper reported the government cut retail petrol prices for the second time this month.

VN INDEX

Down 2.25 percent at 426.94 points.

Volume of shares traded: 38.05 million shares.

Value of shares traded: 605.04 billion dong.

HNX INDEX

Down 1.62 percent at 72.42 points.

Volume of shares traded: 26.50 million shares.

Value of shares traded: 276.90 billion dong.

Broker/analyst comments

Nguyen Quang Huy, broker, VNDirect Securities:

“Buyers don’t want to purchase now. They are hoping for lower prices. Margin calls affected the market somewhat.

“Investors should (allocate) 30 percent of their portfolios to stocks with solid fundamentals as the long-term outlook is still positive.”

Nguyen Tuan, head of analysis, VPBank Securities:

“News on the fuel price cut and low inflation was priced in. With low volume and weak demand the market may fall steeply and the drop may last a month.

“The market expects strong measures such as interest rate cuts.” ($1=20,800 dong)