Vietnam's VN-Index Falters on Banking Weakness and Foreign Outflows

Vietnam's stock indices concluded the week in negative territory as mounting selling pressure on several blue-chip stocks and continued foreign capital outflows weighed on market sentiment.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the benchmark VN-Index declined by 5.94 points to close at 1,824.53. The market opened in negative territory and failed to stage a successful rebound, with buying demand described as insufficient to reverse the downward trend. Market breadth was negative, with 205 stocks falling against 84 advancers. Total trading value reached over VNĐ18.8 trillion (US$714.4 million) from a volume of nearly 608 million shares.

The large-cap VN30-Index also finished lower at 1,963.57 points. Within its basket, 20 tickers declined, seven advanced, and three closed unchanged.

BIDV (BID) was the market's most significant negative influencer, with its shares dipping 2.2% and subtracting 1.45 points from the VN-Index. Other major lenders and large-caps contributing to the decline included Masan Consumer Corporation (MCH), VPBank (VPB), MBBank (MBB), Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), and Techcombank (TCB).

Losses were partially offset by gains in a few pillar stocks. Property developer Vinhomes (VHM) led the supporters, gaining 0.62%. Other positive performers included LPBank (LPB), Sacombank (STB), Techcom Securities (TCX), and Vietjet Aviation (VJC), which posted gains in a range of 1.5% to 2.1%.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index dropped 11.33 points to 324.83 points. Over 53.6 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ911 billion.

Foreign investors continued to exert pressure on the market, net selling over VNĐ1.6 trillion on HoSE.

Analysts from securities firms suggest the market is in a price-based accumulation phase after an extended series of declines. They noted that certain external uncertainties, such as the upcoming US Federal Reserve meeting and geopolitical tensions, have eased. With global oil prices reported to have moved down to the $74-77 per barrel range, the near-term determinant for Vietnam's stock market is seen as the ability of domestic capital flows to improve and expectations ahead of the upcoming semiannual earnings season.