Vietnam's capital Hanoi stock market plunges withdrained liquidity

Vietnam's capital Hanoi stock market plunged on Friday, as investors continued to maintain a cautious view on the market outlook, pushing the market dip further into downward trend.

The HNX-Index, the benchmark of the Hanoi Stock Exchange, closed at 80.47 points on Friday, down 0.2 points or 0.24 percent against the previous trading session.

Liquidity was drained with just some 31.752 million shares worth some 243.304 billion Vietnamese dong (some 10.91 million U.S. dollars) being traded at the Hanoi Stock Exchange on Friday, a decrease of 22.5 percent in volume and 39.87 percent in value against the previous trading session.

Prices of 84 stocks went up; 94 stocks fell down, while 70 stocks remained unchanged.

Compared to last Friday's closure, the HNX-Index decreased by 2.57 points or 3.09 percent on Friday. This is the third week that the Hanoi bourse has experienced downward trend.

During the week, over 179.243 million shares worth over 1.724 trillion Vietnamese dong (around 77.31 million U.S. dollars) were traded on the Hanoi bourse.

This week, the HNX-Index experienced one up and four downs, experiencing the lowest level of 80.47 points on Friday and the highest level of 82.32 points on Tuesday.

In comparison, in the previous trading week, the benchmark ranged between 82.26 points and 83.04 points.

As of Friday, the HNX-Index advanced 0.51 points or 0.64 percent compared to the last trading session on Dec. 31, 2015.

This week, foreign investors became net-sellers. From Monday to Friday, they bought over 2.326 million shares while selling about 3.568 million shares.

In the previous week, the purchase volume of foreign investors was over 4.802 million shares in buying and over 2.845 million shares in selling.

According to analysts, shares tumbled for the third day on Friday as investors increased sales to avert downward risks caused by uncertainties on the global market.

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday decided to keep the key interest rates unchanged following a two-day meeting, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil dropped 2.9 percent to 45.34 U.S. dollars per barrel, the lowest since Sept. 28. The Brent crude oil also dipped 2.6 percent to 46.9 U.S. dollars per barrel.

On the other end, the U.S. presidential election has witnessed complicated developments.

"Vietnamese investors seemed to be more concerned about U.S. presidential election information rather than domestic issues," stock analysts at local Vietnam Investment Securities Company wrote in a note.

Local insiders warned that the market is at high risk level with unstable sentiments of shareholders, so it is not suitable for short-term investors. Enditem