VN-Index plunges to two-month low

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index closed at 1,243 Wednesday, down more than 34 points, the deepest plunge in two months.

The index, which represents the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), remained in the red from the outset. More than 852 million shares changed hands on the HoSE, taking the total trading value to VND20.33 trillion ($861.8 million), a 39.6% increase over the previous session.

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 29 tickers drop. The exception was NVL (Novaland), which rose more than 2%.

BID, VCB and CTG of state-run banks BIDV, Vietcombank and Vietinbank, respectively, and BVH of insurer Bao Viet Holdings were down more than 3% each.

Among securities firms, SSI of leading broker Saigon Securities Inc. dropped 5.05%. Other losing stocks included: VND of VNDirect was down 6.54%, HCM of Ho Chi Minh City Securities Inc., down 6.46%, FTS of broker FPTS, down 4.58%, VIX of VIX Securities, down 6.51%, and BSI of broker BDIV Securities, down 6.66%.

VCI of Viet Capital Securities increased 0.4%.

Foreign investors were net sellers Wednesday. Their sell-off amounted to VND1,060 billion ($44.94 million) against purchases of about VND600 billion (almost $25.44 million).