VN-Index extends losses as selling pressure persists

The index mostly stayed in the red throughout the day and closed 14.51 points lower as investors continued to sell off mid and small-cap speculative stocks.

It is now at the lowest since October 8 and has lost nearly 153 points, or 10 percent, in less than two weeks.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, rose 16 percent to VND23.79 trillion ($1.04 billion) Thursday, as foreign and domestic investors bought the dip.

Foreign investors were net buyers for the fifth sessions in a row to the tune of VND934.96 billion, focusing on VRE of Vingroup's mall operators arm Vincom Retail and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 17 tickers in the red, with GVR of Vietnam Rubber Group hitting the lowest in three months with a 6.3 percent drop.

The tickers has lost 17 percent after closing in the red for four straight sessions.

VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes continued its downtrend, falling 4.2 percent to the lowest since Dec. 2020, while VIC of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate Vingroup dropped 2.3 percent to a seven-week low.

VJC of budget airline Vietjet dropped 3.9 percent, and KDH of real estate developer Khang Dien closed 3.8 percent higher.

Eleven blue chips gained, led by BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings with a 3.9 percent rise.

SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities gained 2.4 percent, and POW of Petrovietnam Power rose 1.9 percent.

Other winners included three lenders, MBB of MB Bank, BID of BIDV, and TCB of Techcombank.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, dropped 3.53 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market dipped 1.42 percent.