Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index isforecast to struggle due to uncertain market sentiment this week, with eyes onthe two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) set to finish reviewing their portfolioson March 16.

The benchmark index may struggle to surpass its short-termpeak of 1,130 points, which has remained the intraday trading high for theindex since January 2018.

The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange ended down 0.07 percenton March 9 to finish last week at 1,123.41 points. The benchmark index scoredweekly growth of only 0.2 percent after five up-and-down sessions.

The minor HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange gained 1.14 percentto close last week at 127.58 points, posting a 0.5 percent decline after onetrading week.

The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market(UPCoM) added 0.88 percent to end March 9 at 61.37 points, up 2 percent week onweek.

The volatile conditions of the market last week underlineduncertain investor confidence as investors were looking toward ETFs to announcetheir decision on portfolio reviews.

That created short rising waves for the benchmark index asit was pulled by strong investors’ demand within the trading sessions then fellback to the reference levels at the end of the days.

Large-cap stocks were mixed with property developer Vingroup(VIC), budget carrier Vietjet Air (VJC), dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM) andprivate-equity firm Masan (MSN) among the gainers.

Those stocks advanced total 9.5 percent, 3.4 percent, 4.3 percentand 2.8 percent respectively after a week while leading stocks in thebanking-finance, energy and securities industries also rebounded.

Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC) said the indicesrebounded on March 9 but still moved sideways, with trading volume below themoderate level and falling slightly in bullish sessions.

On average, more than 304.3 million shares were traded onVietnamese stock market last week, worth 8.5 trillion VND (378.2 million USD).The figures were up slightly from the previous week.

The trading conditions reflected the hesitation of investorsas they increased profit-taking actions, especially when the VN-Index retestedits short-term peak in January, BVSC said.

“The market is predicted to continue to move sideways with alternateups and downs” and “cash inflows are likely to keep running into mid-cap andpenny stocks in the next sessions,” the brokerage firm said in its weeklyreport.

According to BIDV Securities Company (BSC), the benchmark VN-Indexmay trade sideways in the coming week as investors still eye the ETFs’portfolio reviews, which will end on March 16, and re-direct cash fromlarge-cap stocks to mid- and small-cap shares.

The VNM ETF would add 8.7 million shares of Vincom Retail(VRE) to its investment portfolio. Vincom Retail shares will account for 5 percentof the total volume of the investment fund.

The recent volatility also came as the market was lackingboth macroeconomic and corporate news, with the market outlook set to remainunchanged until the end of April, Nguyen Hong Khanh, head of market analysis atSacombank Securities Company, told tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn.

“At the moment, there is not much positive news to lift themarket, therefore, the benchmark index will settle at its current level for thenext few weeks and will improve strongly based on leading corporations’first-quarter earnings,” he said.

Sai Gon-Hanoi Securities Company (SHS) warned that investorsshould be careful given current risky conditions in both domestic andinternational markets.-VNA