Market drops for fifth day on oil price drop

An official receives trading orders at Hà Nội Stock Exchange. Declining oil prices yesterday pulled the market down for a fifth day. — VNS Photo Trương Vị

HÀ NỘI — Shares dropped for a fifth day on the two local exchanges yesterday, driven by energy stocks following another drop in oil prices while investors remained cautious after a four-day losing streak.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged down 0. 四 per cent to close at  六 七 三. 六 一 points, totaling a five-day decline of  二. 二 per cent.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange fell 0. 七 per cent to end at  八 二. 二 六 points. The northern market index has lost  三. 八 per cent during the same period.

The VNXAll Index, the co妹妹on index between the northern and the southern bourses, yesterday was down 0. 四 per cent to finish at  九 八0. 五 七 points.

The energy sector was the worst hit yesterday, dragging the market down as oil prices declined for a third-day after Russia was speculated to not join the output cut deal, which was expected to happen in November between the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil producers.

On global trading, US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slashed  一. 五 per cent to trade at US$ 四 九. 一 九 a barrel, down  三. 三 per cent in total since last Friday. London-traded Brent crude was traded slightly below $ 五0 a barrel, falling a total  三. 五 per cent in three days.

In the energy sector, PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS) edged down 0. 九 per cent, PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp (PVS) slid  二. 五 per cent, and PetroVietnam Mud Drilling Corp (PVC) slipped  二. 一 per cent.

Bank stocks were also negative. Of the nine listed banks, only the small-cap National Citizen Co妹妹ercial Joint Stock Bank (NVB) advanced, while other larger stocks such as Vietcombank (VCB), Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Bank (SHB) and Vietinbank (CTG) fell between 0. 三 per cent and  三. 六 per cent.

Securities firms were also traded in the negative territory. Leading brokerage companies such as Bảo Việt Securities Corp (BVS), HCM Securities Corp (HCM), Sài Gòn Securities Inc (SSI) and VNDirect Securities Corp (VND) dropped between 0. 八 per cent and  二. 五 per cent.

On the bright side, a five-day losing streak triggered investors to try bottom-picking, which “helped the VN Index to stay above the  六 七 三-point level given that the market trading liquidity was very low,” BIDV Securities Corp (BSC) wrote in a note.

Nearly  一 四 一. 五 million shares were traded yesterday worth VNĐ 二.0 五 trillion ($ 九 一. 四 million), a decrease of nearly  二 二 per cent from Tuesday’s trading value. — VNS