VN-Index tumbles 34 points as broad sell-off hits Vietnam stocks

The VN-Index closed at 1,795.21 points after two relatively flat sessions.

Other major indices also ended lower. The HNX-Index fell 2.04 percent to 272.68 points, while the UPCoM-Index slipped 0.25 percent to 126.55 points.

The VN30-Index, which tracks 30 leading stocks, dropped 2.03 percent to 1,936.69 points.

Market breadth was sharply negative, with 525 stocks falling, roughly twice the number of gainers.

Trading value across Vietnam’s three exchanges reached VND18.237 trillion (about US$703.5 million), up about 25 percent from the previous session.

Large-cap stocks were the main drag.

Vingroup (VIC) exerted the biggest drag on the VN-Index, followed by property developer Vinhomes (VHM), Vietcombank (VCB), Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Techcombank (TCB) and BIDV (BID).

Banking stocks were broadly lower, with Vietnam International Bank (VIB) down 3.28 percent, LPBank (LPB) 3.01 percent, Techcombank (TCB) 2.47 percent and HDBank (HDB) 2.37 percent.

Securities shares saw even steeper losses.

Vietcap Securities (VCI) fell 5.87 percent, VNDirect Securities (VND) dropped 4.42 percent, Saigon-Hanoi Securities (SHS) lost 4.03 percent and VIX Securities (VIX) declined 3.99 percent.

Real estate stocks also came under heavy pressure, with CEO Group (CEO) down 5.56 percent, Novaland (NVL) 5.06 percent, Dat Xanh Group (DXG) 4.44 percent and Khang Dien House (KDH) 4.12 percent.

Selling also spread to retail and consumer stocks. Mobile World Investment Corp. (MWG) fell 2.19 percent, FPT Retail (FRT) 2.14 percent, Masan Group (MSN) 3.2 percent and Vinamilk (VNM) 2.76 percent.

Energy stocks were among the few bright spots, supported by rising global oil prices.

Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical (BSR) gained 1.66 percent, PetroVietnam Transportation Corp. (PVT) rose 1.61 percent and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Service Corp. (PVD) added 0.27 percent as oil prices at one point approached $110 per barrel.

Foreign investors were also net sellers during the session.

They bought around VND1.966 trillion ($75.8 million) worth of shares but sold nearly VND2.812 trillion ($108.5 million), resulting in net sales of about VND845 billion ($32.6 million).

Lender STB recorded the heaviest foreign net selling at about VND229.4 billion ($8.85 million), followed by MBB at VND140.4 billion ($5.42 million) and VPB at VND134.3 billion ($5.18 million).

On the buying side, BSR led with net foreign purchases of around VND109.7 billion ($4.23 million), followed by VIC at VND64.4 billion ($2.48 million) and DGW at VND42.7 billion ($1.65 million).