Vietnam News Network

Domestic stock indices fell further yesterday as the global financial crisis worsened.

The most active stocks were Sacombank (STB), which received orders for 1.65 million shares and Phu My Fertilisers (DPM), with 1.54 million share orders.

The southern bourse saw up to 153 losers on the day, with most of them plumbing new depths. Only six codes gained, while five stayed unchanged.

World stock indices tumbled prior to domestic trading amid continuing economic uncertainty by on average 7 per cent in Europe and 4-5 per cent on Asian exchanges, which further frustrated domestic investor sentiment.

The most active stocks were Sacombank (STB), which received orders for 1.65 million shares and Phu My Fertilisers (DPM), with 1.54 million share orders.

PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Vinamilk (VNM) were the next "heavily" traded stocks with 300,000-350,000 units changing hands.

Overseas clients were net buyers, acquiring 2.1 million shares and selling 1.66 million. The net purchase value rose to VND16 billion ($970,000) from Monday’s VND6.64 billion ($402,000).

The northern market meanwhile saw 135 winners and nine losers.

The Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre’s HASTC Index closed 8.4 points or 5.86 per cent lower at 134.98. Trading volume reached 7 million shares with a total turnover of VND211.3 billion ($12.8 million).

Vinaconex Corp (VCG) led the market in terms of trading volume with more than 1 million shares traded, followed by Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) with 790,000 shares and Petroleum Technical Services Corp (PVS) with 680,000 shares changing hands.

Ken Tai Chee Ming, senior securities analyst at Kim Eng Corporation, said global markets had slumped over the last few months, a trend he saw continuing until the end of next year.

The forecast was based on the seriousness of the current crisis and the average duration of crises in the past, he said.

The Government said the global recession had barely touched the domestic economy. However, indirectly there had been a dampening in the finance, currency, commerce, services and foreign investment markets.

"The globally disadvantageous environment will not avert the flow of foreign capital into the domestic market, but it’s likely that the capital influx will become sluggish, with more careful investor consideration," said Ken Tai.

He said the local exchange would have to compete with neighbouring countries’ markets due to the depreciation of shares globally.

Chairman of the State Securities Commission Vu Bang said market regulators were intensifying control on securities companies’ activities to ensure liquidity and to limit market risks.

"Companies in general, and listed firms in particular, need to fortify their risk management, restructure and provide timely information to the public," Bang said. "Business activities are a decisive factor in influencing market moves."

Bang said late last week that the Ministry of Finance had submitted anti-crisis proposals to the Government for consideration.