Stock market seen faring better next week

Investor sentiment is expected to stabilize next week as the benchmark VN-Index has eased off its losing streak and regulators have been taking steps to prevent a new coronavirus from further shaking the stock market.

Friday saw local shares increasing slightly as investors locked in profits after large-cap companies had recently made strong gains. The VN-Index of the Hochiminh Stock Exchange rose 0.24% at 940.75.

The VN-Index's weekly gain was 0.44%.

Yuanta Securities said in a report that the index's long-term growth prospect remains bright and the impact of the coronavirus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, has been priced in the market’s recent falls. Therefore, many stocks have turned attractive to investors.

This week, market confidence improved significantly as the stocks hit by the epidemic became appealing.

The market may have get out of the most difficult period of the year and opportunities for those interested in buying shares now abound. Attention may now be shifted to 2019 company earnings reports and growth prospects in 2020, especially banking, financial and retail industries, the company said.

To allay concerns among investors, the Ministry of Finance has directed the State Securities Commission to closely monitor the market and strictly deal with those taking advantage of the virus outbreak to manipulate stock prices, said the Vietnam News Agency.

During a Government press conference on Wednesday in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai said the deadly coronavirus outbreak has been hitting global markets and also the Vietnamese stock market.

In the two trading sessions that were harest hit by the illness in January (January 30 and 31), the VN-Index plunged a total of 4.54%. However, this decrease was way lower than in some other countries, Mai said.

At the request of the Finance Ministry, the State Securities Commission must tell the Hanoi Stock Exchange and the Hochiminh Stock Exchange as well as securities companies to make daily reports on trading and thwart any attempts to manipulate stock prices.

“The Securities Depository Center should strengthen supervision, make daily reports and coordinate with market regulators to strictly handle acts of profiteering and spreading fake news. Securities companies should make daily reports as well, especially those on fund transactions and margin trading, and strictly comply with regulations on transactions,” Mai said at the meeting.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index dropped 0.87% at 104.92 on Friday. The market index enjoyed a three-day rally of 4.47% and ended this week at 2.5% higher than in the previous week.

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