VN-Index inches lower to 1,200 points

VIETNAM, September 18 - HÀ NỘI — Benchmark indices corrected on Monday, weighed upon by rising selling pressure, while foreign investors also withdrew from the market.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index opened the week on a negative note, causing the benchmark index to fall closer to the threshold of 1,200 points. It closed the day at 1,211.81 points, a decline of nearly 15.6 points, or 1.27 per cent.

The breadth of the market also shrank as 223 stocks edged down, while 111 ticker symbols increased.

Liquidity hovered around VNĐ20 trillion but was lower compared to Friday's session. In particular, investors poured VNĐ19.77 trillion (US$810.7 million) into the southern bourse, equal to a trading volume of nearly 845 million shares.

The index's correction was driven by losses in large-cap stocks, especially in banking and real estate industries. The 30 biggest tracker VN30-Index, dipped 15.11 points, or 1.22 per cent, to finish the trading day at 1,223.7 points.

In the VN30 basket, up to 27 stocks tumbled, while two ticked up and one stayed flat.

Data compiled by the financial website vietstock.vn showed that Vinhomes (VHM) was the biggest loser today. Shares of the property developer plummeted 3.07 per cent.

It was followed by Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), Techcombank (TCB), VPBank (VPB), and Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB). All the lenders posted losses in a range of 1.77-6.5 per cent.

Also weighing on the market's sentiment, Vingroup (VIC), Novaland (NVL), Development Investment Construction JSC (DIG), Đức Giang Chemicals Group (DGC), Masan Group (MSN), Gelex (GEX), and Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) lost at least 1.1 per cent.

The index pared losses in the last ten minutes of the session, buoyed by bargain-buying force, led by gains of Vĩnh Hoàn Group (VHG) and VNDirect Securities Corporation (VND). VHG and VND were up 4.92 per cent and 2.29 per cent, respectively.

Similarly, on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index ended the day at 250.48 points, a 2.28 point decrease, or 0.9 per cent.

During the session, more than 94.8 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth nearly VNĐ2 trillion.

The market also pressured by outflows of foreign capital, as foreign investors net sold over VNĐ498.4 billion on HoSE. However, they still net bought a value of VNĐ4.39 billion on HNX. — VNS