VietNamNet Bridge – Shares were mixed last week with a weak cash flow and cautious investors, but some data hinted at economic recovery.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index increased 0.4 per cent to 62.08 points. The average value of trades was only around VND200 billion ($9.4 million), declining by 33.5 per cent.— File Photo

On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index lost 0.7 per cent over the previous Friday's close to end at 497.08 points. The average trading volume reached VND962.3 billion (US$45.3 million), accounting for only 78.3 per cent of the preceding week's level. Trading volume averaged 53.17 million shares per session.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index increased 0.4 per cent to 62.08 points. The average value of trades was only around VND200 billion ($9.4 million), declining by 33.5 per cent.

Foreign investors continued to be buyers last week, totalling a margin of VND83.6 billion ($3.9 million), following last month's trend when their net buying value hit nearly VND1.2 trillion ($56.6 million).

Last Monday's session was hit by sell-offs on both blue chips and speculative stocks. The market rallied during some following sessions but trading remained sluggish.

Transactions on speculative stocks were strongly differentiated. Some were sold heavily, such as financial firm Ocean Group (OGC), Thanh Cong Textile and Garment Investment (TCM), Viet Nam Petroleum Transport (VIP) and property developers Hoang Quan (HQC), FLC (FLC) and Licogi 16 (LCG). Meanwhile, several others enjoyed gains, including Viet Nam Electricity Construction (VNE), Tien Len Steel Corp (TLH) and property developers An Duong Thao Dien (HAR), Tu Liem Urban Development (NTL) and Development Investment Construction (DIG).

Liquidity declined throughout the week, also caused by a cautious appetite.

However, there was some positive news signalling that the economy was getting brighter. The Viet Nam Asset Management Company (VAMC) is said to buy VND30-35 trillion ($1.4-1.6 billion) of non-performing loans (NPLs) this year and VND100-150 trillion ($4.7-7 billion) next year.

As of October, VAMC has bought over VND11 trillion ($518.8 million) NPLs from 14 banks, while there were 20 lenders filing for offloads.

The State Bank governor Nguyen Van Binh said during last Friday's meeting: "The banking system's bad debts could have reached 10 per cent if the VAMC did not operate."

In addition, analysts forecast that the consumer price index in November will rise only 0.5-0.6 per cent compared to the previous month, while Vietcombank expects this year's inflation to be curbed at under 7 per cent.Last Saturday, HSBC announced that the Viet Nam Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for October retained its record high of 51.5 points achieved in September.

"The continued expansion signalled by the PMI shows that activity is indeed stabilising in the country," commented the bank's Asia economist Trinh Nguyen. She expected economic activity to continue to be bolstered by strong performance of exports, supported by steady FDI inflows. "This will help Viet Nam get through a tough deleveraging phase, with foreign inflows counterbalancing sluggish domestic demand."

Still, the stock market needed more bold economic policies during the last two months of the year, said FPT Securities Co analyst Nguyen Van Quy.  

Source: VNS