Market sticks to script as gloomy year draws to a close

Ho Chi Minh City shares Wednesday closed slightly lower to end the year down 66% - the biggest annual loss since the country started its first exchange in 2000.

The VN-Index of 170 companies and four closed-end funds opened 0.79% higher on follow-through buying from the previous trading day but it edged down in the two next sessions and finished at 315.62, a loss of 0.7 point, or 0.22%.

Turnover continued to rise, with 15.7 million shares worth VND406.6 billion (US$23.2 million) changing hands. Losers outnumbered gainers by 72 to 63 with 39 remaining remained unchanged.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy head of brokerage at the HCMC-based Viet Dragon Securities Corporation, told Thanh Nien Daily that investors, who did not expect to pocket big profits in the gloomy market, sold shares to make marginal gains after the index’s three-day rise.

He said investors now waited for listed companies’ fourth quarter and full-year results as well as more news from the local economy, including the US$6 billion stimulus plan and interest rates.

Though foreign investors turned net buyers recently, their buying has been low and local investors are waiting for the trend to become clearer, Tuan said.

Wood processor and property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) snapped its seven-day winning streak, closing flat at VND63,000.

Thuan An Wood Processing Joint Stock Company (GTA) gained for a sixth day, rising VND300, or 3 percent, to VND10,300 at the close. The company has met this year’s profit target of VND7.5 billion ($429,000), Bloomberg said, citing chief accountant Le Thi Xuyen.

“Next year will be promising as we have signed export orders worth around $10 million,” Xuyen added. (TN)