VN-Index falls for fourth consecutive session

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 253 stocks lose and 124 gain.

Total trading volume fell to VND4.29 trillion ($185 million), similar to the period in March when the Covid-19 pandemic scared investors off the stock market. This was in stark contrast to trading in May, when liquidity surged as high as VND7 trillion ($302 million) per session as the VN-Index recovered and hitting 900 points at the end of the month.

The VN30 for the market’s 30 largest capped stocks shed 0.12 percent, with 18 stocks losing and 7 gaining.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, the largest capped stock on the VN30, led losses this session with 2 percent. VRE of its retail arm Vincom retail lost 1.1 percent, while VHM of its real estate arm edged up 0.1 percent.

It was followed by SSI of brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., down 1.9 percent, and ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros, down 1.6 percent.

Among private banks, HDB of HDBank went down 1.4 percent and STB of Sacombank, 1.3 percent; while EIB of Eximbank and VPB of VPBank kept their opening prices. TCB of Techcombank was the only ticker in the green, rising 0.7 percent.

Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders by assets did not fare much better. CTG of Vietinbank slid 0.7 percent, VCB of Vietcombank 0.5 percent, and BID of BIDV, 0.3 percent.

Other major losing stocks included CTD of construction giant Coteccons, down 1.2 percent, BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet Group, down 1 percent, and MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, down 0.5 percent.

In the opposite direction, NVL of real estate developer Novaland topped gains, surging 4.9 percent. SAB of major brewer SABECO followed with 3 percent, while the rest, including MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, REE of appliances maker Refrigerated Electrical Engineering, and FPT of IT serves giant FPT, rose less than one percent each.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, dropped 0.55 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market lost 0.39 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers to the tune of VND150 billion ($6.5 million) on all three bourses, with buying pressure mostly on VRE of Vincom Retail and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, which fell 0.4 percent.

According to securities firm SHS Securities, the last four losing sessions are likely only a corrective period in an otherwise upwards trend, with the index still hovering between 840-870 points. The VN-Index could still break out of the latter resistance threshold in the near future, it said. 

However, securities firms BVSC and KB Vietnam were more cautious, saying the corrective sessions could turn into a short-term downward trend. 

"If the VN-Index falls below the 840-point support level, the market could fall as far as 780-820 points," BVSC said.