The VN-Index lost the 1,000-point landmark again after a three-day drop. Viet Nam’s benchmark index decreased 2.22 per cent on Friday to close at 997.15 points, expanding the three-day loss to 3.6 per cent.

Liquidity jumped as many investors tried to buy bargain shares, pushing up both trading volume and value. More than 753 million shares worth nearly VND13 trillion (US$524 million) were traded on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, up 70 per cent in volume and 64 per cent in value compared to the previous session.

All 25 industries tracked by vietstock.vn sank in the red, of which the retail and other financial service sectors topped the losers with an average loss of more than 6 per cent each; followed by securities companies with an average decrease of 5.6 per cent. Other heavy losers included household, insurance, plastics, construction and ancillary production with an average loss of around 4 per cent each.

In terms of impact on the VN-Index, the top 10 shares dragging the Index most included Novaland Group Corp (NVL), down 7 per cent; Vietcombank (VCB), down 1.6 per cent; Becamex IDC Corp (BCM), down 6.3 per cent; Mobile World Investment (MWG), down 7 per cent; Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), down 5.6 per cent; VPBank (VPB), down 3.1 per cent ; Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), down 6.3 per cent; Hoa Phat Group (HPG), down 3.6 per cent; Vingroup (VIC), down 1.5 per cent; and Eximbank (EIB), down 5.6 per cent.

In the latter half of the session, some banks recovered and cushioned the market. Vietinbank (CTG) increased 3.8 per cent, contributing more than 1 per cent to the VN-Index. Growth of BIDV (BID), Military Bank (MBB), TienPhongBank (TPB), Vietnam Maritime Bank (MSB) and Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB) also backed the market.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also retreated 2.93 per cent to close the week at 204.56 points. The northern market’s index has lost more than 3.7 per cent in the last three days.

Liquidity also increased here with 77.2 million shares worth VND993 billion being traded, up 83 per cent in volume and 65 per cent in value compared to Thursday’s levels.

According to analysts, there is a very large margin amount in securities companies which was estimated at VND152.8 trillion ($6.2 billion) at 55 brokerage firms, according to FiinTrade’s Q3 statistics. Margin refers to the amount of equity an investor has in their brokerage account.

While individual investors are very cautious and borrow less, this margin can be pledged by big investors and business owners. If the stock price falls sharply, the mortgaged asset will decrease in value, pushing up pressure to sell the mortgages and shaking up the market. — VNS