The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange's benchmark VN-Index traded below its reference level throughout today's session. Selling pressure on several large-cap stocks caused the index to drop over 20 points at one point, nearing the 1,820-point support level.

The Vingroup group significantly influenced today's market performance with strong negative movements, contributing to the VN-Index's overall loss of 22 points. VHM hit its floor price of 110,600 Vietnamese dong and closed with no buyers. VIC and VRE fell 4,3% and 4,7% respectively, while VPL decreased by 1,6%.

Selling pressure from Vingroup stocks spread to other real estate companies. NLG, KDH, NVL, AGG, and PDR all finished in the red, with declines ranging from 1,5% to 4%. In the construction sector, Vinaconex stock extended its streak of hitting the floor price, with over 6 million units available for sale. Conversely, Coteccons stock continued to tick up.

The index narrowed its decline in the final minutes, closing at 1,830 points, down 13 points from its reference. This aligns with many securities firms' predictions, most of whom believe the market's short-term trend has shifted from bullish to neutral after a prolonged correction. They recommended investors reduce their stock allocation to 30-50% of their portfolio, prioritizing leading stocks.

Key market sectors, however, began showing signs of improvement compared to previous sessions. For instance, the banking sector saw more stocks rise than fall, with HDB, SHB, MBB, and VCB all increasing by over 1,4%. Smaller-cap stocks like TPB and SSB fluctuated between 0,2% and 1%. In the securities group, ORS led the gains with a 5,4% increase, followed by VDS, HCM, VND, and VCI, which accumulated gains of 1-3% from their reference prices.

Oil and gas stocks continued to act as a pillar, helping the index avoid deeper declines. Except for POW, which remained at its reference price, all other component stocks in this group closed above their reference. GAS, PLX, and PVD all hit their ceiling prices and had "no sellers" by the end of the session.

The prolonged correction made investor sentiment more cautious, leading to a significant decrease in market liquidity. Compared to the start of the week, liquidity reached only about 25,500 billion Vietnamese dong. The market saw three stocks record trillion-dong turnover: VHM, FPT, and VIC.

Foreign investors also returned to net selling, investing approximately 3,800 billion Vietnamese dong and withdrawing over 3,900 billion Vietnamese dong. NVL was the primary focus of foreign selling, with a net sell volume of over 5,5 million units.

Phuong Dong