Shares declined steeply towards the end of Wednesday’s afternoon session due to investor concerns over global instability.

A strong decline was unexpected as many securities firms had forecast a steady trend in the coming sessions.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) lost 1.73 per cent to close at 961.37 points. This was the first decrease this week, eroding all gains since the start of the week.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index fell for a second day, down 1.61 per cent to end at 108.02 points. It lost 2.2 per cent in the last two sessions.

Selling pressure continued to increase on oil and gas stocks which pushed down shares of big firms such as PV Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service (PVD), PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) and PetroVietnam Drilling Mud (PVC).

PVS and PVC dropped by the maximum daily limit of 10 per cent on HNX, while PVD and GAS slipped by over 6 per cent on HOSE.

The financial sector saw heavyweight stocks including Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and Ho Chi Minh Securities (HCM) all plunging by over 2 per cent each.

Fifteen of 20 stock groups tracked by vietstock.vn slumped and only five saw growth.

“Concerns over an oil price slump due to a supply surplus, Sino-US and Turkey-US trade tensions and the appreciation of the US dollar pushed the market down, especially high selling pressure in oil and banking stocks,” said Bui Nguyen Khoa, a stock analyst at BIDV Securities Co, in a market report yesterday.

A lack of foreign buying support also dampened local investor sentiment, Khoa said.

Foreigners were responsible for total net sell value of VND34 billion on the two stock exchanges. They were net buyers in the previous session.

Overall market condition was negative with declining stocks outnumbering gaining ones by 284-160. Another 299 closed unchanged.

Among the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the HOSE, 25 plunged and only four gained.

Cash focused on food-beverage and fisheries stocks.

Thanh Thanh Cong-Bien Hoa JSC (SBT) climbed over 3 per cent. Seafood processing firm Vinh Hoan Corp (VHC) increased 1.8 per cent. Vinamilk (VNM) and Sabeco (SAB) increased by less than 1 per cent.

Liquidity increased with total 253 million shares worth a combined VND5.4 trillion (US$233 million) being traded in the two markets, up 18.2 per cent in volume and 15 per cent in value compared to the previous session.

“The market is in a short-term correction session and will recover in the next session. Investors should monitor market news and macro-economic news and limit trading,” Khoa suggested. – VNS