The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange's benchmark index traded in negative territory throughout Monday's session, with the decline steadily widening. Widespread selling pressure at one point caused the index to shed 54 points, nearing the 1,730-point mark.
While bottom-fishing activity emerged in the final 15 minutes, it was not enough to reverse the index's trajectory, only narrowing the decline to around 43 points. The VN-Index closed at 1,743 points, its lowest level in over three months. Compared to its valuation at the beginning of this month, the index has shed over 116 points, or 6,2%.
The VN30, an index representing large-cap stocks, lost over 44 points. This index breached several key support levels, including the psychological 1,900-point mark.
According to analysts at MB Securities Company, the stock market is currently affected by banks maintaining high deposit interest rates to retain capital amidst tightening system liquidity. High interest rates and limited liquidity increase pressure on corporate profits, particularly for industries with significant financial leverage.
"The spillover effect is evident in the market. Although stock valuations are attractive, weak capital flows lead to subdued trading liquidity and unpredictable short-term volatility", the analytics team wrote in their strategy report released earlier this week.
Many securities companies share the view that stock market valuations are currently attractive, sitting below the 10-year average, yet this has not been enough to attract short-term capital. According to analysts at ACB Securities Company, the 1,770-point region plays a decisive role in the short-term trend. If this level is lost, the corrective pressure could extend further, potentially reaching 1,630 points.
During Monday's trading session, over 260 stocks on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange closed below their reference price, approximately six times the number of gaining stocks. The market saw 33 stocks hit their floor price, including SHB, a large-cap representative, which lost its full daily trading limit to 11.800 dong, with over 1,1 million shares remaining on the sell order book.
By sector, securities stocks were the most heavily impacted, with all shares closing below their reference price. VIX, VDS, and BSI were the three stocks that closed at their floor price. Other names like ORS, VND, VCI, and VPX also hit their daily limits at one point but later pared their losses.
The real estate sector also saw numerous stocks hit their floor price, including DXG, DXS, CII, QCG, and DIG. Shares of major developers such as Nam Long, Phat Dat, Khang Dien, and Novaland all traded in the red, with declines of 1,5% or more. Vinhomes also featured among the stocks with the most negative impact on the market, dropping 2,6% to around 137.000 dong.
In the banking sector, besides SHB, small and mid-cap stocks like VBB, OCB, and KLB also fell by over 5%. Pillar stocks such as VCB, CTG, BID, MBB, TCB, and VPB all lost over 3%, despite positive business results forecasted for the first half of the year. LPB was the only banking representative to buck the market trend, rising 1,1% to 53.500 dong.
Despite oil prices surging to over 90 USD per barrel, all oil and gas stocks traded in the red. PVT and GAS experienced the sharpest corrections, losing 6,1% and 4,1% respectively.
PNJ shares continued to face strong corrective pressure, losing an additional 4,7% to 41.000 dong. Since the incident involving its subsidiary P-Lab, the market value of this stock has fallen by 35%.
Widespread selling demand pushed liquidity on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange to nearly 20.000 billion dong during Monday's session, a sharp increase compared to 11.600 billion dong recorded last week. HPG was the only stock with matched orders exceeding 1.000 billion dong, followed by SHB, SSI, and VIX. Foreign investors extended their net selling streak to six consecutive sessions, though the pressure from this group's capital withdrawal showed signs of weakening.
According to recommendations from MB Securities Company analysts, investors should now shift towards selective accumulation rather than short-term trading. Disbursement could be considered when the index returns to the 1,760-1,780-point range with improved liquidity.
Phuong Dong
