HÀ NỘI — The stock market began the new week on a sour note, with the VN-Index plunging nearly 20 points to approach the 1,310-point threshold.

Liquidity dropped significantly compared to the previous session, while foreign investors continued net selling, albeit at a much lower volume.

From the opening of the Monday morning session, selling pressure weighed heavily across the board, dragging the VN-Index down steadily until the close. At the end of the day, the VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) fell by 19.32 points, or 1.45 per cent, to 1,310.57 — the sharpest daily decline in nine weeks.

Market breadth was heavily negative, with 241 stocks declining versus just 84 advancing. Trading value plunged by 25.83 per cent from last Friday to VNĐ17.8 trillion (approximately US$682.2 million), corresponding to a trading volume of over 790 million shares on HoSE.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 largest listed firms by market capitalisation, also posted a sharp loss of 22.41 points, or 1.58 per cent, to close at 1,396.56. Within the basket, 19 stocks declined, seven advanced, and four ended flat.

The main drag on the market came from the Vingroup ecosystem. Both Vingroup Joint Stock Company (VIC) and Vinhomes JSC (VHM) hit their floor prices, tumbling 6.91 per cent and 6.97 per cent respectively, with no buy orders and substantial sell-side volume. The two stocks together erased nearly 11 points from the VN-Index.

Foreign investors showed a balanced trading stance on VIC and VHM, while VRE dropped 3.21 per cent to VNĐ25,650 and VPL remained unchanged at VNĐ88,200.

These developments come as the market braces for the second-quarter 2025 portfolio rebalancing of major ETFs.

According to forecasts from MB Securities (MBS), the FTSE ETF is unlikely to add or remove any stocks from the FTSE Vietnam Index. However, with VIC accounting for 16.79 per cent of the index — exceeding the permitted maximum of 15 per cent — the stock is expected to be scaled back in the portfolio, with spill-over effects on VHM.

VIC is projected to be sold down by over two million shares, while VHM could face offloading of more than 2.5 million shares. In contrast, stocks such as SHB and EIB are expected to see net purchases of approximately 3.8 million and 1.4 million shares respectively.

MBS also noted that, apart from rebalancing effects, the broader trend of capital outflows from ETFs is weighing on large-cap stocks. Since the beginning of the year, eight major ETFs operating in Việt Nam have recorded net outflows of more than $262 million. Specifically, the FTSE ETF has seen over $19 million in outflows, while the VNM ETF has lost nearly $62 million.

On the northern bourse, the HNX-Index also retreated by 2.12 points, or 0.93 per cent, to close at 226.49. Trading value on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange reached VNĐ1.5 trillion, with nearly 90 million shares changing hands. — VNS