VN-Index falls as blue chips sold off

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index fell 10.9 points to 1,288.62 on Thursday due to poor performance of the large-cap stocks and the red coverage in numerous sectors.

Twenty-three stocks in the VN30 basket, comprised of 30 largest stocks by market cap and liquidity on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), were in the red. This was led by HPG (Hoa Phat Group) with a margin of 3.5%, followed by other losers like STB, POW, KDH, and PLX.

VN30-Index closed the session at 1,325.49, down 10 points. Liquidity reached VND6,223 billion ($268.3 million), accounting for 38% of HoSE liquidity.

Small and medium stocks were also under selling pressure with VNSmallCap and VNMidcap down 0.22% and 1.27%, respectively.

VN-Index closed Thursday at 1,288.62, down 10.9 points, with 332 losing (53 stocks hit the floor) and 123 gaining. HNX-Index fell by 3.6 points (1.14%) to 311.77, while UpCoM-Index dropped by 0.78 points (0.82%) to 94.32.

On the three exchanges, 653 stocks were losers and 299 gainers, with total liquidity reaching VND19,789 billion ($853 million), up 5% from Wednesday’s session.

The overwhelming red expanded its coverage to many groups of stocks like securities, banking, real estate, steel, construction, and logistics. Oil and gas also failed to avoid the loop following many breakout sessions, except for PGD (PetroVietNam Low-Pressure Gas Distribution) which climbed by 1.5%.

In the opposite direction, retail and insurance were winners with many bullish stocks like MWG, PNJ, FRT, BVH, and BIC. Especially, MIG reached the ceiling price.

Foreign investors are back to net selling of VND551 billion ($23.7 million) on the HoSE, focusing on HPG (Hoa Phat Group), VIC (Vingroup), and GAS (PV Gas).