Negotiated trades cushion fall

HA NOI — Active negotiated trades helped ease the decline of shares yesterday on the HCM City Stock Exchange, as the VN-Index closed off just 0.33 per cent to 425.5 points.

The value of negotiated trades reached VND450.7 billion (US$21.5 million), accounting for half of the total VND980.2 billion ($46.7 million) trading value for the session.

The overall volume of trades reached 36 million shares, with many blue chips also seeing increased activity, including software giant FPT, dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), Sacombank (STB) and Refrigeration, Engineering and Electrical (REE).

"The activity started early in the trading day, driving market value above VND500 billion ($23.8 million) by 9.30am – a sudden and rapid change which could have made many investors suspect a great bottom-catching wave of capital was being injected into the market," said Nguyen Huy Hung, a veteran investor with Saigon Securities Inc.

But it also had all the markings of a bull trap, since the VN-Index ended up closing off for the day, Hung said, blaming the participation of foreign investors who sold off a net of about 800,000 shares.

But Nguyen Thai Son, an analyst with a Ha Noi-based securities company, said that negotiated trades seemed increasing significantly whenever the markets neared a peak or the bottom. In other words, Son said, the bottom was coming up.

"If tomorrow's session sees a narrow move like today, a rally could be possible in the next few days," Son said.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange yesterday, the HNX-Index managed to avoid losses altogether, closing up by 0.3 per cent to 97.73 points.

The volume of trades on the northern bourse edged up to 30.2 million shares, worth a total of VND500.9 billion ($23.9 million). PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) was the most-active share, with 2.9 million traded.

BIDV Securities Co sold all 10.1 million shares offered in an auction on the Ha Noi exchange yesterday, with the average winning price per share of VND10,317, a little higher than the offer price of VND10,300.

The company earned VND105.2 billion ($5 million) from the auction, which attracted 255 investors, including two institutional investors. Foreign investors bought 442,266 shares.

On the HCM City Stock Exchange, PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (PVGas) also successfully auctioned 60.9 million out of 94.7 million shares offered in auction yesterday. The average winning price matched the offer price of VND31,000 per share.

Source: vnagency.com.vn