VN-Index down for second straight session

The last two losing sessions came after an impressive recovery streak for Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index, which added 17 percent between March 30 and April 24 to go from 662.26 to 776.66 points.

185 stocks lost and 152 gained in Tuesday’s session of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), Vietnam’s main bourse on which the VN-Index is based.

Total trading volume of VND3.66 trillion ($156.15 million) was VND600 billion ($25.6 million) below the month’s to-date average, and a sharp drop of 22 percent over the previous session.

The VN30-Index for the stock market’s 30 largest caps shed 0.54 percent, with 16 stocks losing and 11 gaining. The losses were led by food and beverage and retail stocks.

SAB of major brewer Sabeco, one of VN30’s largest caps, plunged 5.6 percent. The stock had been one of VN30’s best performers in the past month, having risen from VND115,500 ($5) on March 24, when it bottomed, to VND180,000 ($7.6) on April 27.

The ticker had plummeted 52 percent in the first two months this year before reaching its bottom price, after a new regulation doubling drink-driving fines came into effect, slashing demand for beer, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic that forced bars and pubs nationwide to close.

VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk and GAS of state-owned energy giant PetroVietnam Gas both shed 2.2 percent this session, followed by MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, down 1.6 percent, and PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry, down 1.4 percent.

Other major losers this session included VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail, down 3.2 percent, HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, 2.5 percent, and PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex, 1.2 percent.

In the opposite direction, POW of PetroVietnam Power, the country’s second-biggest electricity generator, surged 4 percent, topping gains. It was followed by MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, up 2.1 percent.

Most of the remaining gainers belonged to stocks in the banking sector. CTG of VietinBank, VCB of Vietcombank, and BID of BIDV, Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders by assets, gained 1.1 percent, 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent respectively.

For mid-sized banks, MBB of state-owned Military Bank added 0.6 percent, while TCB of private Techcombank and EIB of private Eximbank both rose 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, edged down 0.04 percent, but the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market added 0.27 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the 20th consecutive session on all three bourses for a total of VND400 billion ($17.05 million), with selling pressure mostly on VCB of Vietcombank and VRE of Vincom Retail.