Market Insider – The Vietnamese stock market’s three-session recovery was abruptly broken on the final trading day of the week, as the VN-Index returned to the red under heavy selling pressure, particularly in the banking and securities sectors.
Volatility Returns, Index Closes Down
The market struggled immediately after the opening, briefly holding green before slipping below the reference mark. Although the VN-Index attempted to rally back, the selling momentum grew stronger toward the close. At one point, the index approached the 1,660-point level, registering a drop of nearly 27 points, though it recovered slightly before the noon break. The afternoon session offered more resilience, with the HoSE representative index testing the reference mark multiple times and even turning positive at moments. However, the final ATC session delivered a negative turn, with the VN-Index closing just above 1,683 points, down nearly 4 points from the previous day.
The market breadth leaned heavily toward decliners, with 190 stocks falling, including four hitting the floor limit. Conversely, 117 stocks gained, with six reaching the ceiling. Notable gainers included two “Viettel group” representatives, VTP and CTR, which both recorded high trading volumes valued at hundreds of billions of VND.
Banking and Securities Drag Down Performance
Trading volume was once again led by the banking, securities, and real estate sectors, but performance within these groups was highly polarized. Banking and securities stocks acted as a negative influence, with eight representatives from these two sectors—TCB, MBB, VPB, VIX, SSI, VCB, TCX, and STB—appearing among the top 10 stocks dragging the VN-Index down the most.
The real estate sector served as a crucial cushion preventing a deeper index decline. The strongest support came from Vingroup’s VIC, which rose 1.9% to 219,000 VND on a volume of nearly 748 billion VND. Other real estate stocks like DXG jumped 4.2%, and CEO added 2.7%, while PDR, DIG, NVL, KDH, and KBCsaw modest gains of under 1%. However, even this sector was polarized, as CII and HDC dropped by over 2%, and the other two “Vin group” stocks, VHM and VRE, fell by 0.4% and 1.5% respectively.
Liquidity and Investor Sentiment
Total trading value on the HoSE rebounded to nearly 29,900 billion VND, about 5,300 billion higher than the previous session. Nevertheless, this figure remains low compared to historical average liquidity. Foreign investors continued their selling streak for the third consecutive session, recording a net sell of approximately 1,767 billion VND. SSI was heavily net-sold for nearly 759 billion VND, alongside MBB, VCI, VIX, and SHB, which also saw net sales exceeding a hundred billion VND. The only notable foreign buying focused on FPT and MSN.
Overall, the week was exceptionally volatile. It began with a record drop fueled by panic over bond inspection results and relentless foreign selling, followed by three days of recovery, culminating in today’s decline. In total, the VN-Index fell by over 48 points for the week.
The low liquidity observed over the past three sessions is a mixed signal. On one hand, it suggests that panic selling is not rampant. On the other hand, the cautious trading attitude of investors indicates insufficient momentum to push the VN-Index higher. VPBank Securities (VPBankS) identified the 1,700-point mark as a critical resistance level that will determine the market’s next trend, advising investors to proactively reduce exposure or restructure portfolios if the index fails to break through. Vietcombank Securities (VCBS) recommended using any upward ticks in the coming sessions to adjust portfolios by removing weak, trend-broken stocks and shifting toward those showing strong signs of recovery.
