VN-Index goes sideways following two consecutive sessions

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.01% to end the session at 1,268.57 on Thursday despite strong selling pressure among large-cap stocks.

Foreign investors are back to net selling of $14.7 million on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange on May 26, 2022. Photo by The Investor/Gia Huy.

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.01% to end the session at 1,268.57 on Thursday despite strong selling pressure among large-cap stocks.

Following Wednesday's bullish session, the stock market continued to rise early Thursday morning, with several major stocks maintaining their momentum and pushing the indexes over the reference level.

However, VN-Index’s momentum drastically narrowed from the end of the morning session, and briefly reverted to a decline in the afternoon due to rising selling pressure among large-cap stocks like real estate and banking.

The VN30 basket, comprised of 30 largest stocks by market cap and liquidity on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), was split with 12 gainers and 15 losers.

Leading the uptrend was PLX (Petrolimex) with a margin of 2.8%. In the opposite direction, POW (PetroVietnam) was the biggest loser, losing 1.9% of its value.

VN30-Index closed the session at 1,309.5, down 1.2 points. Liquidity reached VND4,972 billion ($214.3 million), accounting for 36% of HoSE liquidity.

Small and medium stocks were positive with VNSmallCap and VNMidcap up 0.72% and 0.16%, respectively.

VN-Index closed Wednesday at 1,268.57, up 0.14 points, with 252 gainers (18 stocks hit the price ceiling) and 191 losers. Meanwhile, HNX-Index fell by 1.62 points (0.51%) to 313.29, while UpCoM-Index climbed by 0.17 points (0.18%) to 94.95.

On the three exchanges, 554 stocks were gainers (29 stocks hit the price ceiling) and 388 losers, with total liquidity reaching VND16,210 billion ($698.4 million).

While banking, real estate, and construction experienced a divergence, securities and steel stood out with most of the stocks rising by 1-4%.

In the opposite direction, FLC and its subsidiaries, including FLC, ROS, HAI, AMD, and KLF, were simultaneously sold off and sank to the floor following the HoSE’s decision to restrict trading of the first three firms since June 1, 2022. This was due to these firms being more than 45 days late in submitting audited financial results in 2021.

Foreign investors were back to net selling of VND341.2 billion ($14.7 million) on HoSE, focusing on HPG (Hoa Phat Group), VIC (Vingroup), and DXG (Dat Xanh Group).