Hanoi (VNA) - Tradingis set to remain quiet with lower liquidity this week as investors tend to keeptheir accounts secure ahead of the year-end holiday. Both local market indexes werevolatile last week and ended lower than the previous one as investors avoidmaking risky decisions at the end of the year. The benchmark VN Index closed onDecember 23 at 664.37 points, down 1.6 per cent from the previous week. The HNX Index on the Hanoi StockExchange fell 0.8 per cent week on week to finish Friday at 79.08 points. Thenorthern market index has lost 1.5 per cent over the last two sessions. Most of the sectors saw bigdeclines from a week ago. The consumer industry index dropped 5.2 per centafter rising strongly before, driven by the brewer Sai Gon Beer, Alcohol andBeverage Corporation (SAB). The energy sector was the second worst decliningbusiness with a decrease of 2.8 per cent. An average of nearly 152 millionshares was traded each day, worth 2.73 trillion VND (121.5 million USD). Thefigures were down 21.6 per cent in trading volume and 8.5 per cent in tradingvalue compared to the previous week. The stock market indexes wouldrecover slightly but trading liquidity wouldremain very low, said Duong VanChung, MB Securities Company’s head of investment division. "The year-end period is thetime when financial services companies and listed firms operate perfunctorilyto prepare for their annual reports, thus, investors will not be allowed moremargin lending until the new year begins," he said. In fact, market trading liquiditydeclined significantly by 30 per cent from the previous weeks’ average, saidNguyen Huu Binh, Vietnam Investment Securities Company’s (IVS) head of marketanalysis division. The money had flown out of thestock market to seek other opportunities in foreign currency trading as alsofirms that are preparing to list. Investors were not very active because stockswere not attractive enough, weighed down by the potential of year-end risks, headded. Echoing such analsyses, Bui NguyenKhoa, BIDV Securities Company’s head for macroeconomic market operations, saidcapital flow was weak during this period because of concerns over foreigninvestment withdrawing from listed firms to seek chances in about-to-listcompanies, making domestic investors wanting to preserve their money. Foreign investors recorded a netsales value of 105.23 billion VND last week on the two local exchanges,focusing on large-cap stocks like Vingroup (VIC), dairy producer Vinamilk(VNM), Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID) and VNDirectSecurities Company (VND). “The stock market will not likelysee any improvements as foreign investors continue to offload their ownershipin local companies and the market itself lacks good business information todraw attention from domestic buyers,” Khoa said. Some analysts said the market wasset to rise and it would be supported by performance reports of listedcompanies. “It will not be easy because thesupply exceeds demand, thus the money will concentrate on industries with highprospects,” said Nguyen Huu Binh, an analyst at IVS. For example, steel company stockswould rise on their positive performances and tightened regulations on importedsteel products, he said, adding that it would allow those companies to payhigher dividends.-VNA