Stocks close higher but confidence remains poor

August 11, 2017 | 19:00

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Shares ended Friday morning in positive territory on both local markets but investor sentiment remained weak as investors were worried about the current trading condition.

An investor watch share prices on a computer.-Photo nganhangonline.com

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange and the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange closed at 773.70 points and 101.00 points, nearly unchanged from Thursday’s close.

The two stock indices declined total 2.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent in the previous three sessions.

More than 145 million shares were traded across the two local exchanges, worth VND2.37 trillion (US$105.5 million).

Although there were positive signals in market trading on Thursday, Viet Nam’s stock market in the short term would still trade negative, according to FPT Securities Company.

Meanwhile, the derivatives market started running on Thursday and the movement of one-month VN30 futures contracts pointed to the fact that investors were expecting the market to move down, FPTS said, adding that it explained why investor confidence remained weak on Friday morning.

Poor investor confidence pulled nine of the 20 sector indices down, while two were flat, according to vietstock.vn.

The declining sectors included insurance, energy and agriculture. Meanwhile, two of the leading sector indices – banks and property developers – gained slightly.

Among the four futures contracts on the derivatives market, the VN30F1708 closed flat at 745.90 points, the VN30F1709 fell to 746 points, and the VN30F1712 and VN30F1803 gained to end at 758 and 763.80 points.

The afternoon session starts at 1pm.

VNA

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