Prior to today's trading session, several securities firms predicted that the VN-Index could soon surpass 1,380 points and reach 1,400. This forecast stemmed from the expectation of lower countervailing duties after trade negotiations and the upcoming mid-year earnings season.
The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange's benchmark index reached 1,382 points mid-morning, but profit-taking pressure quickly emerged, causing a reversal. The VN-Index fluctuated around the reference point from late morning until closing, finishing near 1,378 points, a gain of nearly 2 points. This marks the third consecutive increase, but with diminishing gains.
The market experienced a deceptive rise as the index climbed while declining stocks outnumbered advancing stocks, 196 to 117, respectively. Bank stocks were the primary driver of the VN-Index's sustained growth. Six of the top 10 most positively impacting stocks belonged to this sector, mostly large-cap stocks like VCB, BID, TCB, STB, and MBB.
Meanwhile, other sectors closed on a pessimistic note. Leading real estate stocks like VND, SSI, and VCI all fell more than 1%, while VIX was a rare exception, gaining 0.4%.
The real estate sector was predominantly in decline. Leading stocks like VHM, NLG, CII, and DIG moved against the index, losing between 0.5% and 3.4%. LDG continued its remarkable run, hitting the ceiling price for the 4th consecutive session at 3,250 VND, closing with no sellers.
The oil and gas sector also performed poorly. POW was the only stock to hold its reference price, while major stocks like GAS, PLX, and BSR dropped between 0.3% and 2%.
A positive sign was the significant improvement in liquidity compared to the beginning of the week. More than 814 million shares were successfully matched on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, equivalent to over 21,000 billion VND, an increase of approximately 2,000 billion VND compared to the previous session.
No single stock experienced a surge in liquidity. SHB led with a trading value of around 600 billion VND, followed by VCG, VCB, MBB, and FPT, ranging between 520 and 580 billion VND.
Foreign investors returned to net selling, exceeding 330 billion VND. They disbursed about 2,100 billion VND while selling 2,400 billion VND. HDB faced the most significant selling pressure with a net selling volume of approximately 9 million shares, followed by HPG and VJC.
Phuong Dong
