VN-Index slides as investors clasp profits

Stocks on the HCM City Stock Exchange declined for the first time in three days, bringing the benchmark VN-Index down from a more than four-year high as many traders offloaded local shares to lock in profit.

Many investors decided to take margins when the market gauge returned to the four-year high on fears of corrections, an individual analyst of FPTS Securities said.


The VN-Index slid 0.94 per cent to end the day at 601.85 points.

The southern market lost its buoyancy due to strong profit-taking from foreign and domestic investors in the afternoon trading session, where 107 stocks advanced, 150 tumbled, 35 closed unchanged and 12 went untraded.

Trading value reached VND5 trillion (US$241 million) out of a volume of 261 million shares, up 50 per cent from yesterday.

The VN30-Index, tracking the southern city's top shares in capitalisation and liquidity, lost 6.57 points or 0.95 per cent to end the day at 682.75 points.

Tan Tao Investment – Industry Corporation (ITA) remained the most active share with 20 million shares changing hands. It closed flat at VND10,000 ($0.48) per share.

FLC Group (FLC), second in market volume with 14.4 million shares changing hands, dove 4.5 per cent to end at VND15,000 ($0.71). Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) tumbled 3.4 per cent to settle at VND28,600 ($1.36) on trades of 7.6 million shares.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index declined for the first time in nine consecutive trading sessions, dragging the market index down from a three-year high, as traders offloaded local shares to take margins in the bullish market.

Many investors took advantage of the overoptimistic market sentiment to take profits. However, others saw the offloading as a chance to increase their holdings amid strong confidence in the current market uptrend, driven by solid cash flow.

The HNX-Index lost 2.01 per cent to finish at 91.12 points with more than 147 million shares changing hands, worth VND1,742 billion ($82.9 million).

The HNX-30 Index, composed of the capital city's top shares, plunged 2.71 per cent to 186.76 points.