Brokerage rumours spark drop in market

January 9, 2009 in Uncategorized

HA NOI — The HCM City Stock Exchange saw the end of a short-lived rally yesterday, with the VN-Index losing 1.7 per cent on the day to close at 314.15.

Volume of yesterday’s trading reached 13 million shares for a total value of VND303.8 billion (US$17.3 million).

Decliners outnumbered advancers by 122 to 29, with 22 codes remaining unchanged or inactive. Refrigeration and Electrical Engineering (REE) suddenly took the spot as most-active shares, with 1.12 million changing hands, closely followed by Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), at a hair over a million shares.

Manh Ha, an investor with An Binh Securities Co, noted that foreign investors once again had return to be net sellers, while domestic investors were now willing to sell out if it meant as little as a 5-per-cent gain.

Despite the cancellation of its shareholder meeting, for instance, Bach Tuyet Cotton Co (BBT) continued its 10-day run of increases, with BBT shares climbed from VND3,500 to VND5,000 in yesterday’s trading as investors looked for shares that might allow some profit-taking.

Meanwhile, some investors may have also begun to sell out on growing rumours that as many as 80 per cent of securities companies were on the verge of bankruptcy.

According to analyst Huy Duong of Hoa Binh Securities, despite the falling VN-Index, yesterday’s trading marked the fifth consecutive day of higher volumes, suggesting that investor worries about the new taxes levied on income from securities investment have been decreased.

In Ha Noi yesterday, the HASTC-Index also slipped 1.27 per cent to stand at 105.67 points. Total trading volume on the northern bourse reached 5.4 million shares, for a total value of about VND152.1 billion ($8.7 million). —