VIETNAM, March 28 -  

Workers of construction firm FECON Corporation (FCN). FCN was up 2 per cent last week. Photo fecon.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Securities companies have forecast that the stock market may continue to struggle this week and investors should adopt risk management measures.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the market benchmark VN-Index edged up 0.02 per cent, to 1,498.50 points.

The index had gained a total 2 per cent last week.

An average of 831 million shares were traded on the southern exchange during each session last week, worth VNĐ26 trillion (US$1.14 billion).

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index lost 0.23 per cent to end Friday at 461.75 points.

In its report, Việt Dragon Securities Company (VDSC) said that the market might continue to struggle in a narrow range around the threshold of 1,500 points.

“The supply pressure seems to have cooled down, shown by the steady decrease in liquidity and the narrowing of the candlestick's body. The bottom fishing effort is gradually showing results,” said VDSC.

“With the signal of the correction slowing down, the market is facing an opportunity to increase in the near future. Therefore, investors need to observe signs of demand and expect a short-term uptrend of the market. Currently, it is still possible to consider participating in some stocks that are attracting cash flow on an active accumulation basis,” the company said.

Mirae Asset Securities Việt Nam said the VN-Index is testing the level of 1,500 points, which is an important resistance of the mid-term sideways trend.

“If successfully conquering this threshold, VN-Index will form an uptrend in the medium term,” the company said.

SSI Securities Joint Stock Company said the VN-Index had continuously retreated when approaching the resistance area of ​​1,500 - 1,520 points, so the slight correction from the above resistance area was still likely to continue.

“However, the fact that the trading volume remained low during the correction sessions showed that the VN-Index will soon recover again in the next few sessions,” it said.

According to Saigon-Hanoi Securities Joint Stock Company (SHS), the market had a second consecutive week of recovery in the context that the tensions between Russia and Ukraine are unlikely to end with an agreement on the negotiating table.

According to SHS, the order-matching liquidity improved in the past week, showing that the money was still pouring into the market, but caution appeared when the market surpassed the threshold of 1,500 points.

“The world market last week did not witness new developments as investors were still observing the conflict in Ukraine as well as concerns about rising inflation,” SHS said.

Foreign investors also returned to be net buyers with a value of nearly VNĐ2.5 trillion in the week.

“In the current context, SHS believes that it is difficult for the market to breakthrough in the short term, but will probably enter a tug-of-war phase and accumulation. Therefore, in the next trading week from March 28 to April 1, VN-Index may struggle in a range of 1,480-1,520 points to accumulate the price base and wait for the opportunity to break out again,” it said.

Almost all groups of stocks increased in the past week. Industry stocks gained the most, thanks to materials and construction codes such as Construction firm FECON Corporation (FCN) up 2 per cent, Đạt Phương Joint Stock Company  (DPG) up 2.8 per cent, Hà Tiên 1 Cement Joint Stock Company  (HT1) up 4.2 per cent, Bình Minh Plastics Joint Stock Company (BMP) up 4.4 per cent, Hoà Bình Construction (HBC) up 4.7 per cent, Coteccons (CTD) up 5.5 per cent, Vicem Bút Sơn Cement JSC (BTS) up 5.7 per cent, and Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII) up 6.5 per cent.

Next was the group of consumer goods with gainers being Masan Group (MSN), increasing by 7.1 per cent, and Sabeco (SAB) rising by 4 per cent.

They were followed by financial groups, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, consumer services, community utilities and information technology

On the other side, banking group slightly adjusted with losers including Vietcombank (VCB) down 2 per cent, Vietinbank (CTG) down 1.8 per cent, Bank for Investment and Development (BID) down 1 per cent, Military bank (MBB) down 0.9 per cent and Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) down 0.3 per cent. VNS