Vietnam benchmark VN-Index plunges 64 points after historic peak

The VN-Index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), plummeted by 64.01 points, or 4.11%, to close at 1,493.41 on Tuesday due to a sharp and broad-based sell-off, just one day after hitting an all-time high.

On Monday, the benchmark index hit 1,557.42 points, an all-time high that surpassed its old peak of 1,536 points in early 2022.

The market decline was largely driven by intensified selling activity, as many securities firms had previously warned of a potential pullback.

However, the scale of the drop on Tuesday - comparable to the sharp fall on April 9, 2025, following U.S. tariff news - exceeded expectations, accompanied by an unprecedented surge in trading volume.

Total trading value on the HoSE reached over VND71.76 trillion ($2.74 billion), setting a historic liquidity record in the 25-year history of the Vietnamese stock market.

On the major bourse, only about 40 stocks remained in the green, while nearly 400 others declined.

The VN30 group, comprising 30 largest-cap stocks, fared even worse as all 30 constituents fell, with several hitting their floor prices, including MSN of retail giant Masan Group, SSI of Saigon Securities, HDB of HDBank, and TPB of TPBank.

Recent gainers such as VIC of Vingroup and GEX of Gelex were also unable to escape the broad sell-off, turning sharply lower and becoming key contributors to the index's decline.

Securities and real estate stocks experienced especially heavy losses, with many falling to their floor prices. Major decliners included HCM of Ho Chi Minh City Securities, VCI of Vietcap Securities, FTS of FPT Securities, PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development Corp., DIG of DIC Corp., CEO of CEO Group, DXG of Dat Xanh Group, and NVL of Novaland.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of nearly VND882.4 billion ($33.65 million) on the HoSE. They mainly net sold FPT, VIX of VIX Securities, MWG of Mobile World Investment Corp., and VPB of VPBank.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index lost 3.2% to 255.36, while the UPINDEX on the Unlisted Public Companies Market (UPCoM) went down 0.81% to 106.07.