Blue chips push down indices

Investors monitor shares at Hoang Gia Securities. Vietnamese shares lost their rising momentum yesterday, with losers outnumbering gainers by more than double the number. - VNS Photo Truong Vi

At the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index dropped by one per cent to 617.72 points. Trading value fell by 13.3 per cent, reaching VND2.6 trillion (US$122.6 million) on a volume of 150.4 million shares.

The VN30 Index, composed of the bourse's 30 leading stocks in terms of capitalisation and liquidity, retreated by 0.82 per cent to close at 651.72 points.

Only four blue chips managed to rally while the giants, including insurer Bao Viet, private equity company Masan and property developer Vingroup, ended in the red.

PetroVietnam Gas failed to assist the southern market yesterday as it closed 2.6 per cent down. Apart from the steel industry, where Hoa Sen Group added 1.8 per cent, other sectors decreased, with construction material companies slumping by three per cent.

According to the exchange, in the first two quarters, the profit growth of listed companies slowed down. While revenue increased by 15.2 per cent year-on-year, profit fell by 1.66 per cent year-on-year while the return on assets (ROA) ratio declined by 9.73 per cent, and the return on equity (ROE) declined by 8.46 per cent.

At the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also lost by 0.99 per cent to end at 90.45 points. Total turnover reached VND1.1 trillion ($51.8 million), as the volume of transactions reached 81 million shares.

The HNX30 Index, representing the performance of Ha Noi's 30 largest stocks, decreased by 1.3 per cent to close at 183.83 points.

Investor Le Quang Huy predicted: "The HNX-Index will probably fall to 87 or 88 points as PetroVietnam's and securities stocks, the two pillars of the bourse, are declining." But he also forecast blue chips in HCM City to rise if they report a high profit growth in the third quarter of 2014.