VN-Index ends bearish streak amid low liquidity

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index climbed 1.68% to close at 1,188 points on Thursday, with liquidity on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange at an 18-month low.

Following Wednesday's selling pressure, VN-Index opened in the red on Thursday. However, the market gradually stabilized after an hour, bringing the main index back to the reference point. Investors' enthusiasm was boosted in the afternoon owing to the rallies of many groups of stocks.

The VN30 basket, comprised of the 30 largest stocks by market cap and liquidity on the HoSE, saw 20 gainers and 9 losers. Leading the uptrend were CTG (Vietinbank) and POW (PV Power), which hit the price ceiling. Other notable gainers were GAS, SSI, PNJ, and GVR. In the opposite direction, VHM (Vinhomes) was the biggest loser with a margin of 2.47%.

VN30-Index closed the session at 1,240.58, up 13.4 points. Liquidity reached VND4,159 billion ($178.9 million), accounting for 41% of HoSE liquidity.

Small and medium stocks also performed well, with VNSmallCap and VNMidcap up 3.44% and 3.18%, respectively.

VN-Index closed Thursday at 1,188.88, up 19.61 points, with 318 gaining (50 stocks reached the price ceiling) and 153 losing (3 stocks hit the floor). Transaction value was VND10,159 billion ($437 million), the third straight session of decline.

HNX-Index jumped 7.79 points (2.89%) to 277.18, while UpCOM-Index grew 1.07 points (1.25%) to 86.7.

On the three exchanges, 685 stocks were gainers (89 stocks hit the price ceiling) and 261 losers, with total liquidity reaching VND12,356 billion ($531.6 million), down 23% from Wednesday’s session.

The market's momentum was boosted by the dominance of green in various sectors like banking, real estate, securities, steel, logistics, fertilizers, and electricity.

Energy also recovered strongly following Wednesday’s plunge, with PVS, PVD, and PVC busting to the price ceiling. This was followed by other stocks, such as PVT, PVB, GAS, OIL, BSR, and PXS which rose around 4%.

Foreign investors remained net buyers to the tone of VND350 billion ($15 million) on the HoSE, focusing on MWG (Mobile World), STB (Sacombank), and CTG (Vietinbank).