Vietnam Daily Market Recap Dec 23

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We would like to send you our Daily Market Recap for today

Market Commentary: The VN-INDEX fell 0.4% as profit taking dominated late trading

The VN-INDEX lost 4.5pts as selling pressure emerged and targeted Financials large caps. Vietnam’s main stocks index began Wednesday’s session optimistically and gradually rose to its intraday high of 1,094.1pts (+1.0%) as most large caps started trading in the green. HPG was the biggest supporter today, which jumped 1.7% to reach its closing price of VND40,000 and alone added 0.6pts to the index’s gain. The stock was followed by BCM (+4.7%), VHM (+0.6%), BVH (+3.0%), and GEX (+6.8%), thus keeping the index in the green for the whole morning session. However, as the afternoon session was nearing its end, profit-taking activities emerged and overwhelmed other large caps, pushing the VN-INDEX down to its intraday low of 1,077.9pts (-0.5%). Notably, GVR became the largest laggard after dropping 4.7% to VND27,600, alone wiping 1.5pts off the index. Market pillars from Financials and other sectors also lost ground, including VPB (-3.0%), TCB (-1.7%), VCB (-0.4%), ACB (-2.3%), SAB (-1.3%), and GAS (-0.7%). At the end of the session, the VN-INDEX fell 0.4% to close at 1,078.9pts, while the HNX-INDEX rose 1.3% to land at 190.3pts.

Health Care (+1.1%), Materials (+0.8%), and Real Estate (+0.5%) rose, while Financials (-1.1%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.9%), and IT (-0.8%) lost ground today. Top index movers included HPG (+1.7%), BCM (+4.7%), VHM (+0.6%), BVH (+3.0%), and GEX (+6.8%). Top index laggards consisted of GVR (-4.7%), VPB (-3.0%), TCB (-1.7%), SAB (-1.3%), and VCB (-0.4%). Top three major put-through transactions were CDC with 5.3m shares (VND140.4bn), VJC with 1m shares (VND124bn), and DIG with 4.1m shares (VND120.8bn).

Foreigners net sold on HOSE to the amount of VND188.9bn, and also net sold on HNX to the amount of VND10bn. They mainly bought HPG (VND186.5bn), FPT (VND96.1bn), and TCB (VND88.8bn); and mainly sold HPG (VND227.7bn), FPT (VND96.3bn), and TCB (VND88.8bn).

Market News

Oil extends drop with U.S. stockpile build adding to virus angst

Oil fell for a third day as a report pointing to an increase in U.S. crude stockpiles worsened sentiment in a market already on edge over the discovery of a potentially faster-spreading mutation of Covid-19 in the U.K. Futures in New York dropped toward US$46/barrel and are down around 5% this week. The American Petroleum Institute said U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.7m barrels last week, according to people familiar with the data. That would be the second weekly increase in three if confirmed by official figures due later on Wednesday. A suggestion by President Donald Trump that he might not sign a stimulus bill into law also weighed on financial markets. (Bloomberg)

US’s imposition of duty on Vietnam’s goods would hurt trade exchange

Any move by the US to impose tariffs on Vietnamese goods would hurt bilateral trade ties, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said. The ministry made the comment after Reuters reported that the US Department of Commerce is to continue imposing tariffs on Vietnamese goods from December based on the accusation of the Southeast Asian country manipulating its currency. Vietnam regretted the US Trade Representative (USTR)’s decision on October 2 to launch investigation under Act 1974’s section 301 into Vietnam’s currency and timber at a time when the two nations are enjoying fruitful relations across diplomacy, culture, economy and trade. Right after the USTR decided to initiate the investigation, Vietnam told the US side that it stood ready to cooperate during the investigation, and set up a working group to work with relevant partners in the US. Representatives from the State Bank of Vietnam are scheduled to hold a bilateral consultation with the US side late this month as agreed before, and it is extremely important for the two sides to maintain dialogue at the moment. Vietnam hopes that the US will take an objective view during the investigation into Vietnam’s policies and management so as not to affect the bilateral relations and efforts to boost cooperation between the two countries and their businesses, the ministry said. In case the USTR unilaterally pushes forward the imposition of duty on Vietnamese goods, the business community, producers and consumers of both countries will be the hardest hit. On the part of Vietnam, enterprises will lose confidence in doing business with their US partners, thus possibly resulting in a decline in the import of US materials and technology which can lead to a reverse of the rising trend in imports from the US over the past several years. (Vietnamnet.vn)

Notable Corporate Events

Vietnam National Seed Group JSC (NSC VN, HOSE) – Dividend payment: NSC has set 12 Jan 2021 to be the record date for paying the second 2019 cash dividend of VND2,500/share. The payment will be made on 29 Jan 2021. (Ndh.vn)

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