VIETNAM, December 29 - HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s stock market concluded the last session of 2023 in a quiet atmosphere without a clear direction for 2024.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index increased by just one point, or 0.1 per cent, to close at 1,130 points. Thus, from the starting point of 1,007 points, the southern bourse’s index leapt 12.3 per cent.

Liquidity rose slightly with nearly 711 million shares worth VNĐ15.8 trillion (US$658.3 million).

The market breadth was fairly positive with 295 stocks rising, 190 decreasing and 97 closing flat.

The VN30 basket which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity also recorded a slightly higher number of gainers with 13 codes, compared to 10 losers and seven moving sideways.

According to data on vietstock.vn, banks continued to lead the market with six of the top 10 positively influential stocks on the VN-Index coming from this group, including BIDV (BID), Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPB), Hồ Chí Minh Development Bank (HDB), Techcombank (TCB), Sacombank (STB) and SeaBank (SSB) with growth of between 1 per cent and 5 per cent.

Other stocks that positively impacted the VN-Index also included Vietnam Rubber Group JSC (GVR), brewer Sabeco (SAB), Novaland (NVL) and Khang Điền House Trading and Investment JSC (KDH).

On the contrary, the stock that had the most negative impact on the Index was VCB. This bank alone caused the VN-Index to lose 3.1 points.

Meanwhile, HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange decreased slightly by 0.13 per cent to end at 231 points. Ending the year, the northern bourse’s index increased by 12.6 per cent. Nearly 72 million shares worth VNĐ1.3 trillion changed hands, up 22 per cent in volume and 18 per cent in value compared to Thursday.

Despite recording an impressive increase, for many investors, 2023 continues to be a difficult year, with many investors even suffering heavy losses. However, many securities companies have delivered bright forecasts for the market in 2024.

Tiên Phong Securities Company (TPS) proposed three scenarios for the VN-Index in 2024. In the most positive scenario, the VN-Index will range from 1,281-1,400 points while in the neutral scenario, Việt Nam’s benchmark index will fluctuate between 1,000-1,280 points and from 1,281-1,400 points in the negative scenario.

Meanwhile, according to analysts at Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co, the VN-Index slowed down as it approached the upper resistance line of the accumulation base, but the uptrend can still continue because there is still room for the market to increase without reaching the upper resistance level of the medium-term accumulation of 1,150-1,250. — VNS