VN-Index down 4.11%, trading value hits 8-month high

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) saw its VN-Index plunge 44.98 points or 4.11% to 1,093.67 on Tuesday, with trading value reaching over VND23.53 trillion ($980 million), a record high in eight months.

The market fall was contrary to investors’ expectations following the State Bank of Vietnam’s announcing late Monday to raise its credit growth cap for the banking system by 1.5-2 percentage points to 15.5-16%.

The major bourse saw 391 losers, including 83 hitting their floor prices, and 87 gainers, with more than 1.48 billion shares changing hands.

All blue-chips closed in the red color, pulling the VN30-Index down 56.88 points. Of which, nine hit their floor prices, namely GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group, HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat, MBB of MBBank, NVL of Novaland Group, PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development Corp., STB of Sacombank, VIB of Vietnam International Bank, VPB of VPBan, and VRE of Vincom Retail.

VNMidcap and VNSmallcap, which track the performances of mid- and small-cap stocks declined 2,89% and 2,4%, respectively.

The seafood group became a bright spot in the trading session, with a series of stocks enjoying the maximum expansion, including ANV of Nam Viet JSC, ACL of CL-Fish Corp, VHC of Vinh Hoan Corp, and IDI of International Development & Investment Corp.

The agriculture tickers also showed their positive performances with HNG of HAGL Agrico and HAG of HAGL Group hitting their ceiling prices.

On the other hand, the banking, securities, real estate, retail, oil and gas and steel groups had negative impacts on the market.

Foreign investors continued to be net buyers for the 12th consecutive session to the tune of VND780 billion ($32.5 million) on the HoSE. They mainly net purchased blue chips like HPG, SSI of Saigon Securities, and VIC of Vingroup.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi bourse went down 7.16 points or 33.26% to 212.8, while the UpCOM-Index on the unlisted public company market dropped 2.22 points or 3.03% to 71.02.