VN-Index plummets

By Dat Nguyen August 18, 2023 | 12:34 am PT

An investor looks at stock prices on a smartphone at a brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index plunged 4.5% to 1,177.99 points on Friday with several blue chips hitting the floor.

The index closed 55.49 points lower after falling nearly 10 points Thursday.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) surged 60.5% to VND36.15 trillion ($1.52 billion).

The VN30-Index, comprising 30 largest stocks, saw 29 tickers falling.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, VPB of private lender VPBank and MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World were among seven tickers that hit floor prices with a decline of around 7%.

SSB of Southeast Asia Commercial Bank (SeABank) dropped 6.6% and TCB of the largest private lender Techcombank fell 6.3%.

VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank was the only ticker that gained with a 0.1% increase.

Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND432 billion, mainly buying VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk and CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, dropped 5.6% while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 3.74%.