An investor at the Vietcombank Securities Ltd. office in Hanoi. (Source: VNA)
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Bank stocks strengthened during August 18’s afternoontrade which rescued the VN-Index from another fall as investor sentimentremained fragile.
The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged up 0.18 percent to closeAugust 18’s session at 768.97 points. It decreased 0.8 percent on the previoussession.
Banks led the market rebound with five of seven listed lenders on the southernmarket advancing. Eximbank (EIB) rose by the daily maximum rate of 7 percent,settling at 6.6 percent to 12,050 VND a share.
BIDV (BID), the third largest listed bank by market value, increased 2.9 percent,while the two biggest lenders – Vietcombank (VCB) and Vietinbank (CTG) – pickedup by less than 1 percent each.
VPBank (VPB) which debuted on August 17 with 1.33 million shares dropped 4.6 percentat 37,200 VND a share and was no longer the most expensive bank share.Meanwhile, Sacombank (STB) edged down 0.8 percent.
Many heavyweight shares in the VN30 basket (which tracks the top 30 shares bymarket value and liquidity on the HCM City’s exchange) also advanced andsupported the market, including steelmakers Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Hoa Sen Group(HSG), food-beverage firms like Vinamilk (VNM) and Kido Group (KDC), and realestate developers like FLC Faros Construction (ROS), Novaland Investment Group(NVL) and Kinh Bac City Development (KBC).
On the defensive side, energy and pharmaceutical shares slumped and weighed onthe market, such as PV Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service (PVD)and DHG Pharmaceutical (DHG).
According to BIDV Securities Company, August 18’s recovery was driven mainly byVN30 large-cap stocks, especially in the banking, food-beverage and steelsectors. However, liquidity in these stocks remained modest while overall liquiditywas weakening.
“The VN-Index may return to 770 points and fluctuate around 770-775 points nextMonday, but market risk remains on the back of unstable liquidity,” they wrotein a note.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.34 percent at 100.83points.
A total of 248.5 million shares worth a combined 3.9 trillion VND (171.7million USD) were traded on the two markets, down 15.8 percent in volume and38.1 percent in value compared to the previous session.-VNA
Shares declined on August 15 after a brief recovery in the previous session when a number of heavyweight shares sank into the red on fragile investor confidence.
The Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) started listing 1.3 billion shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on August 17, while having received 1.2 billion USD worth of purchasing offers from foreign investors.
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An investor at the Vietcombank Securities Ltd. office in Hanoi. (Source: VNA) 
