After the nine-day Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, shares were mixed on the opening trading day of the Year of the Horse.
On the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index was marginally down by 0.33 percent to 554.68 points, due to losses suffered by several blue chip companies.
Both PetroVietnam Drilling (PVD) and Masan Group (MSN) lost 3,000 VND (0.14 USD) per share on February 6.
Technology giant FPT group (FPT) and real estate groups Vingroup (VIC) and Vinamilk (VNM) also dropped 1,000 VND (0.048 USD) per share each.
Despite these losses, the VN30-Index, which tracks the southern city's largest shares by capitalisation and liquidity, managed to rise 0.26 percent to 626.31 points.
The increase was largely due to gains by insurance company Bao Viet Group (BVH), Southern Rubber Corporation (CSM), Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG), and Hoa Phat Group (HPG).
Gains by PetroVietnam Low Pressure Gas Distribution (PGD) and Sacombank (STB) also contributed to the increase.
The Kinh Do Group (KDC) increased 3,500 VND (0.16 USD) per share on February 6 to reach its ceiling price of 60,000 VND (2.8 USD).
The selling pressure was strong on February 6, once pushing the VN-Index to 552 points during the morning trading session. However, the pressure eased in the afternoon.
Overall, more than 89 million shares were traded, with a total value of 1.52 trillion VND (72.3 million USD). Gainers overwhelmed losers by 152-88.
According to Bao Viet Securities, stocks of the real estate and building materials sectors were active on February 6, due to signs of a recovery in the property market.
Despite the VN-Index closing down on February 6, many analysts were optimistic and forecast strong growth this year in the benchmark index, fueled by the macro-economic recovery and the appeal of the stock market as an attractive investment channel.
The benchmark indices on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, however, welcomed the Year of the Horse in the black.
The HNX-Index advanced 1.11 percent to 75.05 points, while the HNXFF-Index, composed of stocks with a minimum free-float rate of 5 percent, gained 1.21 percent to 74.34 points.
Liquidity was average, and 39 million shares changed hands, with a total trading value of 362.5 billion VND (17.26 million USD).
The HNX30-Index, composed of the capital city's top 30 shares, edged up 1.28 percent to 146.84 points.
On the northern bourse, 158 codes increased on February 6, while only 49 codes lost.
VNA
