VN-Index falls; investors seek pre-weekend profit

Hanoi (VNA) - Looking to make a profit before the weekend, investors unloaded shares on July 18, pulling the VN-Index down to 483.05, a soft decline of 1.38 percent or 6.78 points.

Of the total 156 shares on the Ho Chi Minh City bourse, and excluding BBT of Bach Tuyet Cotton Co., 123 codes slid and 24 gained. Some good stocks continued on the upswing, including HPG of Hoa Phat Group with a 2.88 percent increase and FPT of the Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology with 2.25 percent.

Trade volume stayed at 26.65 million shares with a turnover of 1.06
trillion VND (63.93 million USD), showing strong activity the second time this week.

On July 16, the stock market had a record 34.11 million shares change hands, with a revenue of 1.23 trillion VND (74.60 million USD).

Dao Van Khanh, an analyst with Agribank Securities, said. "At present, the VN-Index gained 32.2 percent from the 370.45 points on June 11. The advance is enough for investors to earn a reasonable profit now."

Investors sold shares en masse to earn money for new investments next week, Khanh added. He noted that investing in securities now was likely a better option than property or gold.

Doan Trung Kien, an expert with a Hanoi-based fund management firm, said that investors would continue investing in securities in the future to spur growth.

"With the real estate market still frozen, and gold prices fluctuating, securities investment sounds like a good option for traders. It provides them with safe profits," Kien said.

The HASTC-Index closed down slightly by 0.90 percent at 149.68 points, with 63 advancing codes.

Among the gainers were blue chips like ACB of Asia Commercial Bank, KLS of Kim Long Securities and BVS of Bao Viet Securities.

The northern market saw 15.87 million shares change hands, with a turnover of 535.76 billion VND (32.47 million USD).