July 14: Stocks drop for sixth straight day

VNStockNews.com - The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange remained bearish on Tuesday, as the cycle of news that can support the market remains slow, brokers said.

The VN-Index of 162 leading stocks and four closed-end funds fell for a sixth straight day, the longest losing streak since February, losing 8.12 points, 1.9%, to close at 418.55, the lowest level since May 29.

Of the index members, 122 fell, 23 rose and 17 were unchanged.

“Investors want to see more evidence that private demand is recovering independently of government expenditure before returning to the market,” said a research chief of a HCMC-based brokerage.

Nam Viet Corporation (ANV), the bourse’s second biggest-seafood processor, slid for a fifth day, falling 2.4 percent, to a two-month low of VND16,100. Among 14 listed seafood companies, ten dropped and four were unchanged.

Vietnam Dairy Products (VNM VN), the country’s fifth-biggest listed company, rose for a fifth day, adding 2.7 percent, to VND115,000, the highest since September 4.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based producer of milk, yoghurt, ice cream and cheese said it will pay a dividend of VND2,000 a share on August 5, according to a company filing on the exchange’s website after the market closed yesterday.

Ho Chi Minh Infrastructure Investment (CII), a construction and property firm, dropped 1.6% to close at VND37,000.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based company will sell two million of its own shares by October 22, the company said in a statement to the exchange after the market closed last week. These are shares that it had previously bought back.

Hoa Binh Rubber Joint-Stock Company (HRC), a producer and processor of latex rubber, fell 2.52% to a two-month low of VND31,000.

Hoa Binh’s pretax profits may drop 36% to VND28.5 billion (US$1.6 million), as latex prices have declined, Dau Tu Chung Khoan newspaper reported today, citing unnamed company officials.

The Hanoi Stock Exchange also lost ground, with the HNX-Index creeping down 0.93 points, 0.66%, to finish at 140.68.