Vietnam Daily Market Recap January 20, 2025

Stocks mixed, as industrials offset F&B, telecoms

The VN-Index bobbed between positive and negative territory on Monday, closing up 0.04% at 1,249.5. Total trading value inched down 2.3% from last Friday to VND9.9tn (USD393.4mn). The HNX-Index opened down and never recovered, closing down 0.3% to 221.6.

Top gainers today included Industrial Goods & Services (+1.0%), Utilities (+0.5%), Basic Resources (+0.5%), and Technology (+0.5%). Sectors that decreased included Food & Beverages (-0.7%), Telecommunications (-1.2%), Construction & Materials (-0.5%), and Oil & Gas (-1.1%).

VHC (+4.4%) outperformed the F&B sector today, driven by optimism surrounding a recent bilateral agreement between Vietnam and the United States to resolve anti-dumping disputes surrounding Vietnamese catfish exports. As one of the only Vietnamese enterprises exempt from anti-dumping duties under the agreement, VHC, a leading exporter of pangasius, is poised to strengthen its competitive position in the US market, boosting investor confidence in its growth prospects.

Banking stocks (+0.2%) saw a mid-session recovery, led by BID (+1.0%), MBB (+1.6%), and HDB (+2.2%), driven by optimism following recent strong profit growth from these banks. MBB announced an estimated 12% YoY increase in its parent bank’s pre-tax profit for 2024, reaching VND27.6tn (USD1.0bn), positioning it as the most profitable non-state-owned bank. Similarly, BID reported a standalone pre-tax profit of over VND30.0tn (USD1.1bn) in 2024, a 12.4% increase YoY, marking its highest profit ever and securing its position as the second-most profitable bank in the system after VCB. Meanwhile, per HDB’s CFO in its Analyst Meeting on January 10, HDB expects pre-tax profit to exceed VND16.0tn (USD631.9mn) in 2024, a 23% YoY increase, surpassing shareholder targets. These strong financial results boosted investor confidence in the sector.

Industrial Goods & Services (+1.0%) continued to perform well today, supported by container port stocks, including SGP (+14.8%), MVN (+3.6%), and PHP (+2.8%), likely due to sustained positive market sentiment following last Thursday’s news of the Government approval of Can Gio International Transshipment Port. 

Foreign investors continued net selling with a value of VND247bn (USD9.7bn). Selling momentum focused on VCB (VND116bn, USD4.5mn), VNM (VND38.0bn, USD1.5mn) and FRT (VND33.1bn, USD1.3mn). In contrast, they bought HDB (VND113.5bn, USD4.4mn) and FPT (VND75.2bn, USD2.9mn).

Top laggards were VCB (-0.8%) and BSR (-2.5%). On the other hand, top performers were BID (+1.0%), GAS (+1.3%), and MBB (+1.6%).

Read the full report: HERE