Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index opens week higher, with PNJ sliding

As of 9:30 am on Monday, the VN-Index had risen 6.94 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,869.02.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the market’s largest listed companies, climbed 7.02 points to 2,009.58.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged down 0.15 points to 307.42.

The southern bourse saw 206 gainers and 175 decliners, while more than 1,160 stocks traded unchanged.

The rally was driven primarily by the Vingroup-related property stocks.

VHM rose 3.17 percent, contributing more than four points to the VN-Index, while VIC gained 0.68 percent, adding nearly 2.5 points.

Other notable contributors included HPG, CTG, VCB, VRE, LPB, and BID.

Also, real estate stocks attracted strong investor interest during the morning session, with capital flowing into large-cap stocks.

Alongside the gains in VHM and VIC, VRE advanced more than two percent, while property developers including NLG, DXG, and KDH also traded in positive territory.

Banking stocks maintained a broadly upbeat performance, with CTG gaining nearly 0.6 percent and VCB rising 0.32 percent.

Other lenders MBB, VIB, VPB, LPB, STB, and SHB posted modest gains.

Among securities firms, most major brokerage stocks traded higher, including SSI, VND, SHS, VCI, and VIX.

The materials sector also supported the broader market, with steelmaker HPG climbing more than one percent to become one of the strongest contributors to the benchmark.

On the downside, jeweler PNJ erased roughly 0.4 points from the index.

Retailer MWG, along with GAS, BSR, MCH, and VJC, also weighed on the market, although their impact was relatively limited.

PNJ extends limit-down streak

PNJ fell for a second consecutive trading session on Monday morning.

By 9:30 am, only around 235,600 PNJ shares had changed hands, while more than 13.3 million shares remained queued at the floor price without matching buy orders, highlighting persistent and overwhelming selling pressure.

Following the two sharp declines, PNJ’s share price has fallen nearly 15 percent compared with the beginning of the year.

As of Monday morning, the company’s market capitalization had dropped to some VND27.94 trillion (US$1 billion), down more than VND4.36 trillion ($166 million) from around VND32.3 trillion ($1.2 billion) recorded on July 2.

The sell-off intensified after authorities announced the prosecution of Dang Ngoc Thao, former director of PNJ Laboratory Company, in connection with a diamond smuggling investigation.

According to investigators, Thao allegedly worked with others to purchase smuggled diamonds whose specifications did not match certificates issued by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), allowing them to acquire the stones at discounted prices.

Thao was also accused of using his expertise in gemstone certification to remove the original GIA identification numbers from the diamonds, engrave new PNJ Laboratory serial numbers, issue fresh grading certificates, and reintroduce the products to the market for profit.