Shares down as holiday approaches

Investors watch trading orders at MayBank Kim Eng Securities Company in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hải

HÀ NỘI — Shares fell further on the two local markets on Tuesday as investor confidence remained low on potential global risks, a coming holiday and a six-day decline of oil prices.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange closed down 0. 二 六 per cent at  七0 七. 五 八 points. Việt Nam’s key index has lost total  一. 三 per cent after four consecutive sessions.

The smaller HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange dropped 0. 六 三 per cent to finish at  八 七. 八 六 points, extending its downward trend for a second day with a total loss of  一. 一 per cent.

More than  一 九 四. 二 million shares were traded on the two local bourses, worth VNĐ 三. 八 二 trillion (nearly US$ 一 六 九. 八 million).

Except for insurance, property and construction sectors, companies in the remaining  一 七 industries of the stock market saw their share prices decrease.

The energy sector performed the worst, followed by banks, agriculture firms and food producers with their sector indices dropping 0. 八 per cent, 0. 四 per cent and 0. 二 per cent, respectively.

The energy sector was pulled down by PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) after oil prices fell for a sixth straight session on Monday.

Brent crude finished Monday trading at $ 五 一. 六 a barrel, down 0. 七 per cent from Friday, and had declined by total  七. 七 per cent since April  一 三.

The banking and agriculture groups were driven down by sharp falls of Asia Co妹妹ercial Bank (ACB), Eximbank (EIB), Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG) and its sub-unit Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Agriculture International (HNG).

Among those four stocks, EIB, HAG and HNG reversed from Monday’s strong gains on profit taking, dropping  一. 七 per cent each.

The stock market remained trending downwards as earnings reported by listed companies failed to lift investor confidence, BIDV Securities (BSC) said in its daily report.

In addition, investors seemed unwilling to take part in trading activities and offload parts of their portfolios before the coming national holiday and international tensions, the Hà Nội-based brokerage firm said.

In the next sessions, the benchmark VN Index could drop further and the nearest level for the key index is  七0 五 points, BSC said, adding that the current trend was needed as the stock market had risen strongly for a long period of time. — VNS