Blue chips drag VN-Index down

October 31, 2014 | 09:21

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Stocks quickly lost value in the last minutes of yesterday afternoon. Blue chips' morning momentum turned heads to close at a loss.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the benchmark VN-Index closed down 0.35 per cent at 589.14 points while the VN30, which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity, tumbled by 0.14 per cent to end at 627.21 points.

The biggest stock in terms of market value was PV Gas (GAS), which slid 1.89 per cent amongst other losers like VinGroup (VIC), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), Ocean Group (OGC), Military Bank (MBB) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG).

Nearly half the codes sank in red across the board.

According to analysts at FPT Securities Co (FPTS), investor confidence weakened after the World Bank released its "Doing Business 2015" report declaring that Viet Nam is falling behind regional countries in ease of doing business markers. Viet Nam ranked 78th among 189 countries, retreating six places from last year's report.

Liquidity also declined with a market value drop of 10 per cent since Wednesday, reaching nearly VND1.6 trillion (US$75.8 million).

Property developer An Duong Thao Dien Co (HAR) surprised the market by closing out as the most active code of the day with 8.1 million shares. Its prices climbed 6.54 per cent to finish at VND11,400 a share.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index maintained a modest rise of 0.23 per cent to close the session at 86.79 points.

Liquidity remained a major concern for investors who marked its low levels in recent days – only 50 million shares worth VND705 billion ($33.4 million) traded yesterday.

VNS

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