Cooling tensions help stocks recover

Vietnamese shares ended on Wednesday on a high note, along with other Asian markets, with higher oil prices and improved confidence in cooling trade tensions.

The benchmark VN Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange gained 0.70 per cent to close at 961.28 points.

The southern bourse index had fallen total 0.42 per cent in the previous two sessions.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange advanced 1.02 per cent to end at 107.68 points.

The northern market index had dropped total 0.51 per cent in the first two sessions of the week.

After struggling for a week, the VN Index passed the 960-point level with improved liquidity, according to Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities Co (SHS).

Nearly 255.5 million shares were traded on the two bourses, worth VND5.56 trillion (US$244.3 million). The figures were up 14 per cent in volume and 22.4 per cent in value compared to Tuesday.

The market growth was attributed to the stability of the US market lately, SHS said in a daily report, which came from the cooling trade tension between the US and China after two economies’ leaders signalled their willingness to hold positive talks.

“Investor confidence clearly improved,” SHS said.

A reducing gap between the December futures contract VN30F1812 on the derivatives market and its referred large-cap VN30 Index proved investors were more confident in the market’s short-term uptrend, SHS said.

The improvement of confidence lifted 22 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 basket and boost the blue-chip index up 0.58 per cent to 927.70 points at the end of the day.

Among the gainers in the blue-chip basket were steel maker Hoa Sen (HSG), Vietcombank (VCB), digital retailer Mobile World (MWG), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and Sacombank (STB).

Among those large-cap firms, Vietcombank has sold parts of its stakes in two other financial institutions – Eximbank (EIB) and Military Bank (MBB) – to meet the central bank’s requirement of cross-ownership in financial institutions.

Vietcombank’s stakes in the two later banks are now 4.84 per cent in Eximbank and 4.98 per cent in MBBank. The deals have sparked expectations for Vietcombank to report higher quarterly earnings in the fourth quarter.

In addition, petroleum stocks continued to benefit from the increasing oil prices as Brent crude advanced 1.5 per cent to trade at $61.12 a barrel.

PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) gained 0.9 per cent while PetroVietnam Mud Drilling (PVC) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) jumped at least 4.2 per cent each.

SHS forecast the benchmark VN Index would keep rising to test the short-term limit of 970-990 points on Thursday. 

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