The market didn’t weaken much further in the afternoon session, but a few large-cap stocks dragged down the VN-Index, preventing it from recovering. However, the breadth showed that more stocks advanced. Foreign investors continued to sell heavily, with net withdrawals across the three exchanges exceeding VND 850 billion.
The VN-Index closed slightly higher, up 3.1 points or 0.25%, a bit weaker than the morning session. This was mainly due to some morning gainers losing steam in the afternoon. The VN30-Index also eased, ending the day up just 0.38%.
Within the VN30 basket, 18 stocks posted lower prices compared to the morning session, while only six managed to climb higher. VIC remained the strongest pillar for the VN-Index, closing up 2.33% from the reference price. However, it lost 1.71% from its morning high. VNM also eased 0.45% to end the day up 1.06%. BID, HDB, VCB, and HPG also trimmed their gains. The weakening of this group weighed on the index, causing it to dip back towards the reference price at times.
MWG stood out as the biggest mover in the afternoon session. It had already gained 0.86% by the morning close and continued its upward trajectory in the afternoon, surging to VND 60,500, a gain of 2.89%, within just six minutes. It touched an intraday high of VND 61,000, up 4.63% from the reference price, before paring some gains to close 3.09% higher for the day. MWG attracted significant trading interest, with a turnover of VND 755.4 billion in the afternoon session and VND 968.2 billion for the whole day, making it the most actively traded stock in the market (fourth in the morning session). Foreign investors also poured money into MWG, buying a net of nearly VND 190 billion in the afternoon and VND 220.9 billion for the day.
Aside from MWG, BCM also performed well, ending the day 3.91% above the reference price, a gain of 2.82% from the morning close. FPT, STB, VJC, and VPB managed to improve their prices in the afternoon session. However, as these stocks have a smaller capitalization, their impact on the VN-Index was limited. Moreover, trading activity in the VN30 basket was relatively subdued in the afternoon, with a slight decrease of 0.3% from the morning session, excluding the significant volume in MWG (accounting for about 25.1% of the basket).
Nevertheless, the afternoon session wasn’t entirely weak. The HoSE maintained a positive breadth, with 226 gainers and 201 losers, and liquidity was concentrated on the advancing side, with approximately 51.4% of the total, while the declining side accounted for 35.2%. The afternoon trading value on the HoSE reached VND 6,885 billion, a 10.2% increase from the morning session. The number of stocks in the VN-Index that advanced by more than 1% also increased from 50 in the morning to 68 in the afternoon. Several stocks witnessed robust trading and gains, such as DGC, which rose 1.39% with a turnover of VND 304 billion; HVN, which climbed 5.83% with a turnover of VND 153.4 billion; SZC, which gained 3.12% with a turnover of VND 150 billion; DGW, which increased 2.18% with a turnover of VND 107.5 billion; and VHC, which rose 1.74% with a turnover of VND 100.9 billion. Other stocks with lower liquidity, such as ELC, BCM, AGG, SAM, PHR, and DRC, also posted gains above 2%, while DCL, CMG, VPH, and HVH hit the daily limit-up.
The number of declining stocks increased to 64 in the afternoon from 46 in the morning, but their trading activity remained muted. Only 15 stocks in this group had turnovers of VND 10 billion or more, with TCB, BAF, and VJC being the only ones to cross the VND 100 billion mark.
Overall, despite the market’s tug-of-war in terms of index points and breadth, there was a distinct divergence among individual stocks. The money flow appeared subdued, unable to create broad momentum, resulting in isolated stock movements. The two listed exchanges recorded a matched turnover of VND 14,561 trillion, an almost 11% decrease from the previous day and the lowest in eight sessions.
