Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index records sharpest fall in history following President Trump's tax announcement

The VN-Index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), plunged nearly 88 points, or 6.68%, to 1,229.84 on Thursday, wiping out all the gains it has made since the beginning of the year within one trading session.

This marked the steepest drop in the history of the index, bringing it close to its lowest point of 2025.

The liquidity on the HoSE skyrocketed, with over 1.76 billion shares traded for nearly VND39.6 trillion ($1.53 billion), doubling the figure in the previous session.

The market sank in the red and the light blue as 517 out of 530 stocks on the HoSE closed lower than their reference levels, with 263 hitting their floor prices. Only 13 tickers gained, and eight stayed unchanged.

The VN-30 index, which tracks the performance of 30 largest capped stocks on the HoSE, plummeted 93.79 points or 6.81% to 1,283.18, with all the tickers falling, including up to 28 hitting their floor prices.

The shocking decline followed an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump that he will impose a 46% countervailing tariff on goods from Vietnam, effective from April 9.

Foreign investors massively offloaded Vietnamese stocks with a net selling value of nearly VND3.7 trillion ($143.38 million). They mainly net sold large caps like MBB of MBBank, TPB of TPBank, TCB of Techcombank, and SSI of Saigon Securities.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange plunged 7.21% to 220.95, while the UPCOM-Index on the Unlisted Public Companies Market dropped 8.17% to 90.58.

Vietnamese experts expect that the VN-Index will soon find its balance point. When the major index drops sharply or enters an oversold zone, it creates buying opportunities for medium- and long-term perspectives, they said.