VN-Index suffers sharpest fall in 4 months

Vietnam's benchmark VN-Index on Monday recorded its strongest decline since April 15, falling 48.53 points, or 3.92%, to 1,188.07.

The trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), represented by the VN-Index, surged by 45% to VND23.782 trillion ($947.4 million), the highest since July 16.

The red overwhelmed the HoSE where only 24 stocks gained and up to 448 fell, including 91 hitting their floor prices.

In the VN-30 basket, comprising 30 largest capped stocks, all closed in the red. GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group hit its floor price (-6.96%), followed by VRE of Vincom Retail (-6.4%), HDB of HDBank (-6.1%), SAB of brewer Sabeco (-5.6%), and TPB of TPBank (-5.4%).

Foreign investors turned net sellers on the HoSE to the tune of VND730 billion ($29.1 million) after three consecutive sessions of net buying from July 31 to August 2. They mainly net sold FPT of tech giant FPT Corporation and HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 3.82%, while the UPCoM-Index on the Unlisted Public Companies Market went down 3.19%

The VN-Index's plunge was in line with global developments with multiple stock markets tumbling amid fears of a U.S. recession.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei average closed 12.40% lower at 31,458.42, its largest one-day fall since October 1987, while the broader Topix lost 12.48% to 2,220.91.

The South Korean stock market even used the "circuit breaker" mechanism for the first time in four years. The Kospi index fell 8.78% after falling 3.7% on Friday (August 2), marking the worst trading session since March 2020.