Stocks that are "green on the outside, red on the inside"

The VN-Index closed the January 5th session up nearly 4 points thanks to banking stocks, while the number of declining stocks was overwhelming, indicating strong profit-taking pressure.

Since the beginning of 2024, the stock market has not recorded a single day of decline. The upward trend continued today, with the VN-Index opening above the reference level. Banks continued to be the main support for the market, but red gradually spread across the board.

The full allocation of credit "room" at the beginning of the year, coupled with potentially more favorable profit forecasts, has drawn attention to bank stocks. This group also accounts for a dominant share of the total market capitalization. However, conversely, profit-taking pressure spread across the mid-cap and penny (small-cap) segments. This development caused the VN-Index's gains to hover only a few points, with the index even falling below the reference level towards the end of the morning session. This tug-of-war continued throughout the afternoon until the close, pitting the banking sector against the rest of the market.

The VN-Index closed today at 1,154.68 points, up nearly 4 points and extending its winning streak to six consecutive sessions. The VN30-Index rose 4.77 points to 1,161.14 points. On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index and UPCOM-Index only increased by 0.2 points compared to the reference level.

Total market liquidity reached nearly 18,000 billion VND. Of this, liquidity on the HoSE exchange was over 16,300 billion VND, a decrease of more than 10,000 billion VND compared to the January 4th session. Foreign investors sold net more than 420 billion VND today, the highest amount since December 22nd, 2023.

Red dominated the market despite the VN-Index rising. On the HoSE exchange, 267 stocks declined, compared to 221 that increased.

BID was the biggest contributor to the VN-Index, adding 1.2 points as it rose 1.9% to 44,500 VND. Bank stocks also played a major role in supporting the blue-chip group's gains. Besides BID, STB and MBB rose over 2%, VIB, CTG, andSHB increased over 1%, while ACB, TPB, HDB, and VCB closed above their reference prices.

Conversely, POW experienced the sharpest decline in the VN30 index at 1.3%, while VHM, SAB, VNM, MSN, and VRE closed in the red.

In the mid-cap group, stocks fluctuated near their reference prices. Some groups that have recently attracted attention, such as OGC, OCH, HAG, and HVN, closed in the red.

Minh Son