Ho Chi Minh City, October 20: Vietnam’s benchmark stock market, the VN-Index, suffered its largest-ever point decline today, plummeting 94.76 points to close at 1,636 points, as investors engaged in a massive sell-off during the final minutes of trading. The sharp correction saw more than 320 stocks fall, marking the most severe single-day point drop in the index’s history.
The VN-Index traded in the red for the entire session, initially declining by a more moderate 15-25 points. However, approximately 30 minutes before the closing-price-determining auction, selling pressure abruptly intensified, causing the index to fall precipitously.
At 2:25 PM, the VN-Index was already down nearly 83 points, breaching the critical 1,650 support level. The VN30 Index, representing large-cap stocks, lost over 94 points, with 29 of its constituents trading below their reference price.
Panic spread through the market, fueling continued selling during the final 15-minute closing auction. By the close of the session, the VN-Index had lost a record 94.76 points, breaking through numerous key support levels to land at 1,636 points.
While an unprecedented loss in terms of absolute points, this was also the steepest correction in relative value (percentage drop) in the past half-year. The last time the market saw a single-session decline of over 5% was in early April, when news of reciprocal import tariffs from the US caused the market to “evaporate” with consecutive sharp losses over several sessions.
The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) at one point today recorded over 320 declining stocks, with more than 70 hitting their daily floor limits. Leading blue-chip stocks, including HPG, SSI, VRE, MSN, HDB, SHB, TCB, and VPB, were all submerged in red.
The heavy sell-off pushed market liquidity to a high level. Before the closing auction, over 1.5 billion shares had already changed hands on HoSE. Consequently, the transaction value reached nearly VND 48,000 billion, surpassing the total volume recorded in the previous week’s closing session.
For investors, the sudden, sharp downturn underscores a high degree of market volatility and raises concerns about stability moving forward. The unprecedented point loss will likely prompt analysts to reassess near-term support levels and the overall market sentiment.
