Intense selling pressure in the afternoon session caused the VN-Index to decline further on Friday, dampening market sentiment amid soaring liquidity.

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) closed Friday at 1,247.35 points, suffering a severe decline of 1.66 per cent.

Market breadth was negative as only 89 stocks gained while 408 decreased during the session.

Liquidity skyrocketed to a record high with more than 1.35 billion shares traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ32.5 trillion (US$1.3 billion).

The afternoon session witnessed a surge in intense selling pressure, leading to a further decline in the VN-Index. This downturn in the stock market added to the already subdued market sentiment, as investors became cautious and uncertain about the prevailing conditions.

The high level of selling activity was accompanied by a notable increase in liquidity, reflecting the heightened trading volume and the influx of market participants, said financial news site cafef.vn.

This combination of factors contributed to a challenging and volatile trading environment, with investors closely monitoring price movements and adjusting their strategies accordingly. The decline in the VN-Index highlighted the need for a cautious approach in navigating the market during this period of increased selling pressure.

It is expected that the state of struggle and exploration will continue in the next trading session, but it is still possible to extend the market's uptrend thanks to current support signals, said Việt Dragon Securities Co.

"Therefore, investors need to observe supply and demand developments to evaluate the market state. Currently, investors should prioritise stocks that are showing good signals from the support zone to hold or buy cumulatively. However, investors should still take advantage of the uptrend to take profits on stocks that have increased rapidly to the resistance zone or turning cautiously."

The worst performers were FPT Corporation (FPT), Mobile World Group (MWG), PVPower (POW), Vinhomes (VHM), Vingroup (VIC) and VPBank (VPB).

Banking and securities stocks also sank deeply, including Vietinbank (CTG), VPBank (VPB), Techcombank (TCB), Tiên Phong Bank (TPB), HDBank (HDB), Military Bank (MBB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID), SSI Securities (SSI), HCM City Securities (HCM), Vietinbank Securities (CTS), Agribank Securities (AGR) and BIDV Securities (BSI).

On a sector basis, all 25 sectors on the stock market lost ground including wholesale, insurance, real estate, IT, retail, banking, food and beverages, logistics and construction, securities, energy, agriculture, rubber production, seafood processing, construction material and spare parts.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost by 0.44 per cent to close at 236.32 points.

Nearly 128 million shares were traded on the northern exchange, worth VNĐ2.4 trillion. — VNS