Back to work: will the long holiday help rally investors?

Friday, May 2, 2008
The early week rebound of the VN-Index should spring investors into a rally next week after the long public holiday.

On Tuesday, a day before the holiday and the last session in April, the VN-Index rose slightly by 0.57% to 522.36.

Nearly 10 million shares changing hands brought in a turnover of VND415.79 billion (US$25.99 million).

Local investors demonstrated better investment behaviour on Monday and Tuesday, evident in the balanced volume of shares bought and sold.

According to the analysis department of Viet Nam International Securities, investors were active buyers because they wanted to preserve good stocks for new investments next month after the holiday.

"Meanwhile, others see the rally as a good chance to earn some money for the holidays. Then they continued selling shares," the department said.

Foreigners maintained their strong presence, buying a net 2.61 million shares on Tuesday. Foreign activity posted a revenue of VND149.59 billion ($9.35 million).

Consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and petroleum stocks were the most popular, while financial and property stocks seemed to be sliding.

"When the inflation rate is still high, sectors like petroleum or pharmaceuticals are important in daily life. Those shares are more likely to bring investors profit," said Dao Van Khanh, an analyst from Agribank Securities.

While banking or property stocks proved attractive for investors, Khanh noted, "it’s not a good time to trade those stocks daily. It’s better to have a long term and specific investment plan with those shares."

STB of Sacombank was the most traded code on Tuesday with 1.77 million shares.

As gold and oil prices on the world market signalled stability, local market regulators were working hard to stabilise the market as the VN-Index passed the 500-point mark.

"That good news could make investors optimistic in their trading next week. However, it’s hard to say how long the optimism will last," Khanh said.

In Ha Noi, the HASTC-Index on Tuesday slid 1.17% at 169.11. Trading turnover was VND112.59 billion ($7.04 million) for 3.25 million shares.

The foreign sector was also a net buyer in this market with 58,800 shares, posting a turnover of VND2.17 billion ($135,625). The market resumes trading on Monday. (VNS)