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Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.23% to 1,269.71 points Thursday in the first session of 2025 while Asian shares began the year slightly lower.
The index closed 2.93 points higher after dropping 5.24 points in the previous session.
Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased by 7% to VND10.752 trillion (US$422.4 million).
The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 12 tickers gained.
PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex went up 1.7%, BID of state-owned lender BIDV rose 1.7%, and BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings closed 1.6% higher.
Eleven blue chips fell. HDB of lender HDBank slid 1.6%, TCB of private lender Techcombank went down 1.2%, and ACB of Asia Commercial Bank saw a 0.8% drop.
Foreign investors were net seller to the tune of VND98 billion, mainly selling FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation and VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank.
The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 0.11%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went down 0.04%.
Globally, Asian stocks began the year on a dour note on Thursday as they struggled for traction after a jittery close to 2024, while the U.S. dollar held steady and investor sentiment stayed cautious ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Reuters reported.
While global shares closed out 2024 with a strong yearly gain of nearly 16%, they had clocked a monthly loss of more than 2% in December.
The same was the case for MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which slid 1.2% in December though registered a gain of more than 7% for 2024.
The index was last down 0.58% in the Asian session on Thursday, with volume thinned given a trading holiday in Japan.
Chinese stocks were battered, with the CSI300 blue-chip index last down 2.65% while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.36%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 2.15%.
