VN-Index drops after eight consecutive gaining sessions

The benchmark VN-Index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), fell 14.53 points, or 1.3%, to 1,102.57 on Monday on the strong selling of banking stocks, ending its eight-session gain streak.

The major bourse saw 210 gainers and 218 losers, with more than 798 million shares changing hands for over VND13.6 trillion ($579.96 million), an increase of 16.18% in trading value from the previous session.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the performance of 30 largest cap stocks, lost 16.7 points, or 1.48%, to 1,113.95, with up to 22 blue chips declining.

The banking stocks had the most negative impact on the market, with almost all closing below their reference levels, including VCB of Vietcombank, ACB of Asia Commercial Bank, EIB of Eximbank, and STB of Sacombank, down over 3% each.

HDB of HDBank was the only gainer in the group, expanding 3.1% to VND18,250 ($0.78) per share. It saw nearly 3.77 million shares traded, of which 2.5 million were purchased by foreign investors.

The real estate group saw a divergence. Blue chips like VHM of Vinhomes, VIC of Vingroup, and VCG of Vietnam Construction And Import-Export Joint Stock Corporation went down 3.38%, 2.53% and 3.47%, respectively.

Meanwhile, medium-cap tickers gained, with HQC of Hoang Quan Corp and ITA of Tan Tao Group hitting their ceiling prices.

Red covered many other groups like securities, insurance, seafood, and retail.

Small- and medium-cap stocks became the focus of attention as many hit their ceiling prices, namely APH of An Phat Holdings, AAA of An Phat Xanh Plastics, TLD of Thang Long DECO JSC, HHS of Huy Hoang Services Group, and JVC of Japan-Vietnam Medical Instrument JSC.

Foreign investors continued to be net buyers to the tune of nearly VND800 billion ($34.08 million) on the HoSE. They mainly net purchased HPG of steel maker Hoa Phat and FUEVFVND of ETF fund DCVFMVN DIAMOND.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi bourse gained 0.02 points to 220.78, while the UpCOM-Index on the unlisted public company market inched up 0.41 points to 75.4.