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Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index added 0.21 percent to 1,379.72 points Thursday, with trading value hitting a two-month low.
The index stayed in the green for most of the morning session, but moved into the red as it was about to end. It began the afternoon session with a surge to the 1,384-range before dipping back into the red. It rebounded in the last hour of trading to close with a 2.85 points gain.
Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, dropped 12.5 percent to VND18.48 trillion ($803.65 million), the lowest since April 29. The bourse saw 112 tickers gain and 274 lose.
The VN30 basket comprising the index’s 30 largest capped stocks saw 14 tickers in the green.
Top gainers Thursday session were tickers of two real estate firms, Phat Dat Real Estate Development and Novaland Group.
PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development rose 3.4 percent, ending three consecutive sessions in the red. The ticker has risen over 112 percent so far this year.
NVL of real estate developer Novaland Group grew 2.7 percent to a new peak. It has grown over 139 percent since the beginning of the year.
GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas saw a 2 percent rise, pushing the index up by nearly 1 point.
On the losing side, STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank was the biggest loser with a 2.5 percent drop, its second losing session in a row. The ticker has slipped 14.2 percent from its May 31 peak.
KDH of real estate firm Khang Dien House fell 1.8 percent, while HPG of steel giant Hoa Phat Group dropped 1.6 percent.
Foreign investors were net buyers for the third session in a row to the tune of VND182.67 billion, with buying pressure strongest on SSI of brokerage SSI Securities Corporation, VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes, and VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank.
The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, was down 0.23 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 0.4 percent.
This article was originally published in VNExpress