Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index last week ended at its 13-monthhigh but its struggle on the last two days signalled growth had stalled and itwould move sideways in the coming week.

Thebenchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) finished at1,022.49 points on November 8, totalling a weekly gain of 0.68 percent lastweek.

TheVN-Index advanced on the back of large-cap stocks as they boosted the VN-Indexabove 1,008 points, which was previously reached in October 2018.

Banks,building material producers and construction firms were among the strongestgainers and supported the market.

Most ofthe 30 largest companies by market capitalisation and trading liquidity hadreleased their third-quarter earnings reports such as Vietcombank (VCB), Hoa Phat(HPG), Vincom Retail (VRE), Vinhomes (VHM), retailer Mobile World Investment(MWG) and dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM).

Analystsbelieved the market ran out of growth momentum as the effect of the corporateearnings season had been reflected in the growth of blue chips earlier.

TheVN-Index had met some strong resistance when it tried to beat the 1,025-1,030point zone, which was also the previous peak in October 2018, Ngo Quoc Hung,senior analyst at MB Securities Co’s market strategy department, told tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn.

“Theindex’s struggle was totally normal and any declines in the early days of nextweek are also expected especially after the benchmark index and VN30 large-capshave made the strongest rallies so far in the year,” he said.

Normally,the market needed to settle down after breaking through a resistance point, andit is the 1,000 points in the case of the VN-Index, so that it can targetsustainable growth, he said.

“Therefore,any declines from now on are only technical as the market is still in itsuptrend scenario,” Hung added.

Furthergrowth of the market would depend on the inflow of the capital, or cash,according to Phan Dung Khanh, Maybank Kim Eng Securities Co’s director ofinvestment and consultancy.

Tradingliquidity was declining so it would be hard for the VN-Index to continuegrowing and surpass 1,030 points soon, he said.

TheVietnamese market may benefit from the movement of global stocks on positivenews about the US-China trade war and the prospects of the domestic economy andcompanies, he added.

The traderelations between the two largest economies have been progressing in recentweeks as the two sides have been willing to step down to cool down the trade warthat has dragged on the global economy.

AfterChile cancelled its hosting of the APEC Summit for domestic instability, someother places have been suggested as alternatives for the signing of theUS-China phase 1 trade agreement.

However,US President Donald Trump on November 8 said he had not agreed to remove alltariffs though China really wants to. The statement cast out new doubts aboutthe trade deal progress.

Hungwarned the last three months of the year would lack news for the stockmarket and the domestic market had already claimed to the new high, so ashort-term correction was likely.

Thegrowth of local stocks doesn’t match the growth of the VN-Index as attentionwas mostly paid to large-cap stocks while mid-cap and small-cap stocks had beenignored, according to Hung.

SinceOctober end, 43.5 percent of all HoSE-listed stocks advanced and 49.5 percentof them declined. Only a fifth of the gainers beat the gain of the VN-Index.

In theVN30 basket, only a third of the 30 largest stocks were able to beat theVN-Index in the same period.

Khanhsaid blue-chip stocks were still strong enough and they would still take themain role to drive the market up.

However,the large-caps may need some rest before returning to the action, he added./.