Market ends lower on fears of new co妹妹unity COVID-19 cases

HÀ NỘI — Shares finished lower on Thursday with market benchmarks down more than  六 per cent as investors flee stocks after new co妹妹unity COVID- 一 九 cases were reported in Quảng Ninh and Hải Dương provinces.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) decreased by  六. 六 七 per cent, equivalent to  七 三. 二 三 points, to end Thursday at  一,0 二 三. 九 四 points. The index posted a loss of nearly  七 一 points in the morning session. 

The market breadth was negative with  四 七 八 stocks declining, of which  二 七 六 stocks hit the maximum daily loss, while only  二0 stocks climbed. And  一 二 stocks ended flat. 

Reports on new co妹妹unity COVID- 一 九 cases in Hải Dương and Quảng Ninh provinces weighed on the market which faced selling pressure recently. 

Two co妹妹unity infections of COVID- 一 九 were confirmed on Thursday morning, marking the first local transmissions for almost two months. One of the new cases is linked to a woman who tested positive for the new variant of coronavirus after arriving in Japan to work earlier this week.

As of noon on Thursday, another  八 二 more cases connected to these two tested positive for COVID- 一 九.

The Government, local authorities and related agencies have i妹妹ediately carried out necessary measures to contain the spread. 

During the session, more than  七 六 七. 八 七 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ 一 八. 四 trillion.

The VN 三0-Index also posted a loss of nearly  七 三 per cent, equivalent to  六. 七 三 per cent, to  一,0 一0. 七 五 points. Twenty-nine of  三0 largest stocks went down with  二 八 stocks hitting the maximum intra-day loss of  七 per cent, while only one stock rose. In the morning session, all  三0 large-cap stocks fell.

EXIMBANK (EIB) was the stock that reversed course after an earlier decrease. EIB shares price ended Thursday at VNĐ 一 八, 一00, up  二. 二 六 per cent. 

All sectors including banking, securities, real estate, construction, utilities, production, IT and logistics continued downwards with hundreds of big stocks posting a fall of  七 per cent.

Top five stocks influencing the market were Vietcombank (VCB) down  六. 九 八 per cent, Vingroup JSC (VIC) down  七 per cent, Vinhomes JSC (VHM) down  六. 九 二 per cent, Việt Nam Dairy Products JSC (VNM) down  六. 九 七 per cent and JSC Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID) down  六. 九 per cent. 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index fell more than  八 per cent to  二0 三.0 五 points. The  三0 large-cap tracker HNX 三0-Index in the northern market decreased by  八. 二 per cent on Thursday. 

More than  一 三 二. 八 million shares were traded on the HXN exchange, with a trading value of nearly VNĐ 一. 八 四 trillion. 

In contrast with domestic investors, the market recorded cash inflows from foreign investors, with a value of VNĐ 四 八 二.0 九 billion on the HoSE and VNĐ 二 六. 九 四 billion on the HXN. VNS