An investor looks at stock prices on a laptop at a brokerage
in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.
 

The VN-Index rose 2.93 percent to 1,114.93 points Tuesday after plunging hard the previous session. 

On the final day before the stock market closes for Lunar New Year (Tet), the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, was a sea of green with 396 stocks gaining and 57 losing.

Total trading volume sank back to VND12.66 trillion ($553.2 million), almost at its lowest in the past month, though trading has always died down around the Tet break each year, which this year will run from Feb. 10 until Feb. 16.

After Monday’s drop of 3.88 percent, caused by profit-taking and coronavirus-induced selloffs, investor sentiment seemed split with the VN-Index flitting in and out of the red in the first hour of trading. However, by lunch, bottom-fishing cash had taken the index 22 points into the green, to see it continue climbing in the afternoon session.

The VN30-Index for the market’s largest caps surged 3.38 percent, with all 30 of its caps in the green. The basket attracted an overwhelming 57 percent of total trading this session.

Topping gains was VPB of private VPBank, up 6.9 percent and hitting its ceiling price. It was followed by SBT of agricultural firm TTC-Sugar, up 6.6 percent, REE of appliances maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering, with 5.6 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s largest cap, surged 5.1 percent, while VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes and VRE of retail arm Vincom Retail rose 2.2 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

Of Vietnam’s three largest state-owned lenders by assets, CTG of VietinBank climbed four percent, VCB of Vietcombank 3.3 percent, and BID of BIDV 1.7 percent. MBB of mid-sized Military Bank also added 3.6 percent.

In the private banking sector, STB of Sacombank gained 4.3 percent, TCB of Techcombank 2.9 percent, HDB of HDBank 2.8 percent, and TPB of TPBank 2.5 percent.

Other major gainers included FPT of IT services group FPT, up 4.6 percent, BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet Group, up 4.4 percent, SSI of top brokerage SSI Securities, with 3.8 percent and MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, with 3.6 percent.

The most modest gainers this session were real estate developers, with TCH of Hoang Huy Group, NVL of Novaland, and PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate rising 1.4 percent, 1.7 percent and 2.4 percent respectively.

Indices for the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), home to mid- and smaller-caps, and the Unlisted Public Companies Market (UPCoM) rose 1.88 percent and 1.6 percent respectively.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers to the tune of over VND530 billion on all three bourses, with selling pressure on VCB of Vietcombank, MBB of Military Bank, and HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, which rose 2.2 percent.