Vietnam's benchmark VN-Index on Wednesday fell 18.25 points, or 1.63%, to 1,103.4, marking its third consecutive losing session and the lowest level since June 8.
The trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), represented by the index, skyrocketed 60% to nearly VND21.86 trillion ($889.48 million), the highest level in 17 sessions, with more than 1 billion shares changing hands. There were up to 465 losers and only 53 gainers.
The VN-30 index, featuring 30 largest capped stocks, dropped 15.47 points, or 1.36%, to 1,125.56, with up to 25 tickers falling. Among those were BID of BIDV Bank (-3.1%), VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes (-2.7%), HPG of steel maker Hoa Phat (-3.2%), GAS of PV Gas (-2.6%), MSN of Masan Group (-3.8%), and MWG of Mobile World Investment Corp. (-3.5%).
The VN30 basket saw only two gainers, namely VJC of low-cost carrier Vietjet (1.9%) and SSI of Saigon Securities (0.3%).
Key stock groups such as banking, real estate and steel sharply fell. The banking group saw only SGB of Saigon Bank for Industry and Trade go up 0.7%, while the remainders closed in the red.
The steel group showed bad performance with HPG (-3.2%), HSG of Hoa Sen Group (-5.6%), and NKG of Nam Kim Steel (-3%).
The real estate stocks closed on negative notes, with a series hitting their floor prices such as CII of Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment JSC, HQC of Hoang Quan Corp., DIG of DIG Corp., PTL of Victory Capital Joint Stock Company, and CKG of Kien Giang Construction Investment Consultancy Group.
The securities group saw a divergence. FTS of FPT Securities, BSI of BIDV Securities, VCI of Viet Capital Securities, HCM of Ho Chi Minh City Securities and CTS of VietinBank Securities declined, while SSI, VIX of VIX Securities, MSB of Maritime Bank and SHS of Saigon-Hanoi Securities gained.
Chemicals, health care, cement, fertilizer, industrial real estate, textiles and garments and construction also followed the common trend of the market.
However, there were several silver liners in the gloomy picture, including seaports, oil and gas, retail and insurance.
Foreign investors were net buyers for the second session to the tune of VND559 billion ($22.75 million). They mainly net purchased STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank and PVD of Petrovietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation.
The HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 1.27% to 227.11 points, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market dropped 0.81% to 85.95 points.