Shares diverge, but market extends rallies

Customers shopping at a Masan WIN store. The company's shares surged on Wednesday, lifting the market's sentiment. Photo courtesy of Masan

HÀ NỘI — Shares diverged on Wednesday as the rising selling force after the previous session's increase weighed on the market. However, benchmark indices still closed higher.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) gained  二. 四 五 points to  一,0 四 六. 三 五 points, an increase of 0. 二 三 per cent. The market benchmark had kicked off  二0 二 三 on a positive note with a rise of nearly  三 七 points, its biggest rally in nearly two and a half months.

The market's breadth, however, was negative as more stocks inclined to the downside. Of which,  一 六 二 stocks on the southern bourse tumbled, while  一 五 五 stocks advanced.

Liquidity continued to improve, with a trading volume on HoSE up about  一 二 per cent over the previous session to VNĐ 一0. 五 trillion (US$ 四 四 八 million).

The  三0 biggest stocks tracker VN 三0-Index extended rallies, up  二. 九 points, or 0. 二 八 per cent, to  一,0 五0. 一 五 points. In the VN 三0 basket,  一 三 stocks jumped with one hitting the maximum daily gain of  七 per cent, while  一 三 declined. And four ticker symbols ended flat.

After stocks soared in the first trading session of the year, some investors seized chances to take profits, pressuring the market.

Analysts from Saigon - Hanoi Securities SJC (SHS) said that the market witnessed a positive start in  二0 二 三, but as the Tết holiday approaches, investors tend to reduce stock proportions in their portfolios. Therefore, the market's movements are unpredictable at the moment.

Even though the VN-Index surged in the previous session, it has not escaped the mid-term downtrend, SHS added.

Data compiled by a financial website vietstock.vn showed that Masan Group (MSN) was the uptrend's leader on Wednesday, up  三. 四 四 per cent. It was followed by Petrolimex (PLX), VPBank (VPB), Vietinbank (CTG) and Vinamilk (VNM). All the stocks gained in a range of  一 -  七 per cent, with PLX registering a rise of  七 per cent.

On the contrary, real estate stocks led the market's bearish trend. Specifically, Vingroup (VIC) was the biggest loser in market capitalisation, down more than  一. 四 per cent. Vinhomes (VHM) and Novaland (NVL) also decreased.

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) also settled up on Wednesday. It climbed slightly by 0. 五 points, or 0. 二 四 per cent, to  二 一 三.0 六 points.

During the trading day,  七 四. 八 五 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth over VNĐ 一. 一 trillion.

Foreign capital continued to lift the market's sentiment, as foreign investors net bought a value of more than VNĐ 四00 billion on the two main exchanges. Of which, they net bought VNĐ 三 六 六. 二 五 billion on HoSE and VNĐ 四 三. 四 二 billion on HNX. VNS