VN-Index hits all-time high following FTSE Russel's market status upgrade decision 

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) rose by 12.53 points to 1,697.83 at Wednesday’s close, a record high in the 25-year history of Vietnam's stock market.

This outcome came following FTSE Russell’s announcement on Tuesday that Vietnam's stock market will be reclassified from "frontier" to "secondary emerging" from September 21 next year, subject to an interim review in March 2026.

Given this news, investors entered the Wednesday session with renewed optimism. This was reflected in strong buying pressure at the open, sending the VN-Index up 15 points to briefly reach the 1,700-point mark.

However, profit-taking pressure emerged shortly afterward, causing the benchmark index on the HoSE to narrow its gains, hovering around the reference level and even dipping slightly into negative territory at times.

This sideways trend ended in the final 30 minutes of the afternoon session, when strong capital inflows into large-cap stocks helped the VN-Index rebound sharply, closing at 1,697.83 points.

This surpassed the previous record of 1,696.29 points, set a month ago. In terms of intraday highs, the index is now only 20 points below its all-time peak.

The HoSE recorded over 180 gainers and 120 losers. After a mid-session correction, many blue-chip stocks regained upward momentum, closing with gains of over 1% compared to their reference prices.

CTG of VietinBank and STB of Sacombank led the banking sector, rising 2.5% and 2.4%, respectively. In the securities group, SSI of Saigon Securities gained 1%, with an exceptional trading volume of over VND2.22 trillion ($84.22 million).

The steel sector saw a modest recovery, with HPG of steel giant Hoa Phat closing up 0.7%.

The Vingroup group saw strong divergence. VHM of Vinhomes and VRE of Vincom Retail surged over 3.7%, contributing a combined 5 points to the VN-Index. Meanwhile, VIC of Vingroup dropped 1.1% to VND178,100 ($6.76), shaving off nearly 2 points from the benchmark index.

The HoSE trading value increased by about VND7 trillion, or 28%, from the previous day to over VND32.8 trillion ($1.24 billion). Of this, large-cap stocks accounted for more than VND18.2 trillion.

Five stocks on the major bourse recorded trading value exceeding VND1 trillion ($39.93 million), namely SSI, HPG, SHB of Saigon-Hanoi Bank, VIX of VIX Securities, and MWG of retailer Mobile World.

Another positive note, foreign investors broke their 15-session net selling streak. They bought over VND4.41 trillion ($167.3 million) worth of stocks, while selling VND4.2 trillion. They mainly net purchased HPG, HDB of HDBank, and GEX of Gelex Group.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index inched up 0.17% to 273.34 points, while the UPINDEX on the Unlisted Public Companies Market (UPCoM) increased 0.17 % to 110.43.