Shares plummeted for the second session in a row on Thursday as strong selling pressure hit many large-caps during most of the trading session, which only strengthened in the final minutes.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) dropped 2.27 per cent to close at 1,030.64 points, expanding its loss of 1.76 per cent from Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) inched up 0.01 per cent to end at 121.50 points, recovering from its decline of 1.75 per cent in the previous session.

Market trading liquidity signaled improvement but still remained low with nearly 175 million shares, worth VND4.9 trillion (US$215 million), traded on the two local exchanges.

Declining stocks dominated the two bourses, outnumbering gainers by 253 to 199, signalling low investor confidence.

Across the stock market, banking, securities, real estate, construction, retail and insurance were the worst-performing industries.

Their indices declined between 0.9 per cent and 3.7 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.

Large-cap stocks underperformed as the VN30 Index lost 2.63 per cent to reach 1,007.09 points, with 23 declining stocks against three gainers among the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation.

BIDV Securities JSC (BSC) said in its daily report that the selling pressure was concentrated in most of the main stocks, including Masan Group (MSN), property developer Vingroup (VIC), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), brewery Sabeco (SAB) and budget carrier Vietjet (VJC).

The banking sector continued to be under intensive in selling, notably VPBank (VPB) was very close to the floor price.

On the positive side, cash flew to the energy sector thanks to a positive trading of crude, which also helped slow down the declining trend in the market and support the HNX-Index to close in green.

Energy gainers included PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS), up 5.6 per cent, PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), climbing 4.3 per cent and PetroViet Nam Coating JSC (PVB), soaring 5.4 per cent.

Vingroup listing

Vinhomes JSC, the real estate arm of Vingroup, on Thursday listed 2.68 billion shares on the HCM Stock Exchange.

The reference price was VND92,100 per share against its face value of VND10,000, and the share quickly hit the upper price limit of VND110,500.

However, according to Bao Viet Securities Company, this will likely produce a negative impact on the overall market, partly because the rise of VHM on Thursday was not included in the overall index.

“The continuous slide amid no improvement of liquidity indicates cautious cash flows. However, the market may see a recovery in the next session when the growth of Vinhomes is included in the overall index,” BVSC said in its daily report.

VHM’s market capitalisation reached approximately VND300 trillion, making it the second-largest company by market capitalisation in the stock market after its parent company Vingroup, whose market capitalisation stood at VND324 trillion.

The company has a charter capital of more than VND26 trillion ($1.14 billion), according to Tran Anh Dao, deputy director of HOSE.

The listing on the stock exchange is a milestone in the development of the firm, helping enhance its brand, as well as competitiveness, transparency and management quality, Nguyen Viet Quang, general director of Vingroup, said.

The firm plans to develop real estate projects in satellite urban centres of Ha Noi and HCM City, alongside in cities and provinces with high development potential, he said.

Vinhomes JSC is currently developing property projects in 40 cities and provinces, he said.

As of the end of March, the company had total assets of close to VND94.69 trillion ($4.15 billion). — VNS