Market struggles as large-cap stocks face strong sell-off

Vietjet's planes at Noi Bai Airport. The airline's shares led the gains yesterday, cushioning the VN-Index's downtrend, up 5.23 per cent. — VNA/VNS Photo

The market ended mixed on Friday with the benchmark VN-Index falling due to weak risk appetite, while the HNX-Index extended gains for four straight sessions.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index inched down 3.15 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 1,504.84 points after breaching above the 1,500 point-level in the previous session.

However, the market's breadth was positive with 243 stocks increasing, while 190 stocks declined. Liquidity was also higher than the previous trade as 697.5 million shares were traded on the southern market, worth VND22 trillion (US$964.2 million).

The benchmark's reversal was mainly due to strong sell-offs in large-cap stocks. The VN30-Index, tracking 30 biggest stocks in market capitalisation on HoSE, dropped 9.04 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 1,531.47 points.

Of the VN30 basket, 25 stocks slid and only five stocks climbed.

BIDV (BID) led the downtrend, according to data compiled by vietstock.vn, down 2.83 per cent.

Other blue chip stocks weighing on market sentiment were the trio stocks of the Vin family, consisting of Vinhomes (VHM), Vingroup (VIC) and Vincom Retail (VRE), PV Gas (Gas), Techcombank (TCB), Techcombank (TCB), VPBank (VPB), MBBank (MBB) and Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR). These stocks all plunged at least 1 per cent.

The losses were limited by gains in some stocks, with Vietjet Aviation JSC (VJC) posting the best performance, up 5.23 per cent. It was followed by Development Investment Construction JSC (DIG), Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN), up in a range of 1.18 - 6.77 per cent.

Meanwhile, on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HoSE), the HNX-Index rose 5.37 points, or 1.25 per cent, to 435.61 points, marking the fourth straight session of gains on Friday.

During the session, investors poured VND2.4 trillion into the northern bourse, equivalent to a trading volume of over 85 million shares.

On the other hand, foreign investors continued to be net buyers on HoSE, with a value of VND99.86 billion. However, they net sold a value of VND48.96 billion on HNX. — VNS