Vietnamese shares nosedived on Thursday as investors remained pessimistic over the short-term market prospects while a bottom pickup near the day-end would not mean better sessions ahead for the stock market.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange tumbled 3.32 per cent, or nearly 36 points, to end at 1,044.86 points. The southern market index had gained 0.37 per cent to close at 1,080.74 points on Tuesday.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange lost 4.9 per cent to close at 120.12 points, after gaining 0.13 per cent on Tuesday.

The stock market was shut on Wednesday on the occasion of the death anniversary of the Hung kings - the 10th day of the third lunar month, which fell on April 25 this year.

Bao Viet Securities Co (BVSC) said in its daily report that heavy selling pressure was seen across the board and increased in the last minutes. Therefore, the market may continue to drop on Friday.

The two exchanges were mostly covered by declining stocks, which outnumbered gaining stocks by 371 to 111, while 260 other stocks were flat.

More than 268.1 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth VND7.7 trillion (US$340.4 million).

According to Viet Dragon Securities Co (VDSC), “bottom-fishing” inflows appeared but failed to push the VN-Index into positive territory. It could be that investors’ hope for a recovery has vanished after two weeks of constant declines. In the afternoon session, overwhelming selling pressure took place.

A sudden drop in investor confidence hit 18 of the 20 industries on the stock market and 25 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 basket.

The large-cap VN30 Index plummeted 3.32 per cent to 1,018.97 points, driven down mostly by financial-banking, real estate, retail and rubber stocks.

Among those sectors, banks, securities, property and insurance companies were the worst hit. The sector indices dived at least 4.9 per cent each.

The stocks that performed badly included Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), Military Bank (MBB), HDBank (HDB), Sai Gon Securities Incorporation (SSI), Viet Capital Securities Joint Stock Company (VCI), Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HCM), Sacomreal (SCR) and Bao Viet Holdings (BVH).

According to BVSC, the market is likely to decline in the next session before rebounding next week. — VNS