Trading was lackluster this morning, mainly due to investors’ reluctance to buy, with sell-side orders gradually pushing prices lower. Except for the first few minutes when the VN-Index was slightly positive, the market trended downward for the rest of the morning session, ending at the lowest point with four times as many losers as gainers.
Today is the futures expiration date, and caution prevailed after three consecutive losing sessions. The large-cap stocks failed to stabilize the market, despite VCB and VIC trading in positive territory. The number of declining stocks far outweighed the gainers in the VN30 basket (3 gainers vs 25 losers).
The VN-Index opened at its intraday high, gaining nearly four points, before plunging to a loss of 5.61 points (-0.44%) at the morning break. The drag from the large-cap stocks was evident, and the overall market breadth also indicated selling pressure across the board. Specifically, the best breadth for the index this morning was 162 gainers vs 71 losers in the first few minutes, but by 10 am, it narrowed to 159 gainers vs 127 losers, and by 11 am, it stood at 108 gainers vs 185 losers. At the session’s close, it further deteriorated to 67 gainers vs 270 losers.
The VN30-Index ended the morning session down 0.42%, with only three stocks in the green: VCB up 0.33%, VIC up 0.24%, and ACB up 0.19%. All other large-cap stocks, except for TCB, which was unchanged, traded in negative territory. Fortunately, the decline in these heavyweights was relatively modest, with HPG leading the losses among the top 10 stocks by market cap, falling 0.92%. However, eight stocks in this basket declined by more than 1%, with SSB and GVR being the weakest performers, down 2.1% and 1.66%, respectively.
Across the broader HoSE market, of the 270 declining stocks, 78 fell by more than 1%. Only four stocks had notable trading volume exceeding 100 billion VND: MSN, down 1.24%, with 216.9 billion VND in turnover; HDB, down 1.11%, with 137.7 billion VND; DBC, down 2.84%, with 122 billion VND; and HCM, down 1.32%, with 101.6 billion VND. The total trading value on the exchange decreased by over 6% from the previous morning session, reaching just over 4,766 billion VND. Many stocks witnessed sharp declines coupled with low liquidity, indicating a withdrawal of funds.
In addition to the impact of the futures expiration, the contraction in trading volume also reflected investors’ disappointment with the 1300-point region as the market repeatedly failed to break through this level. As a result, investors, though not yet ready to “liquidate” their portfolios, lacked the motivation to buy more. Consequently, the market dynamics shifted in favor of sellers, and the extent of the price decline was at their discretion.
Stocks that bucked the downward trend this morning mostly had modest trading volumes, ranging from a few hundred million to a few billion VND. Of the 67 gainers, 22 advanced by more than 1%, with no significant standouts. While YEG, HVH, PVP, MSH, TIP, and NO1 posted strong gains, their liquidity was limited to a few billion VND at most. YEG, the most liquid stock among them, recorded a turnover of just 13.7 billion VND, which is not sufficient to ensure price reliability due to the low participation.
Foreign investors continued their significant net selling on HoSE, withdrawing another 288.8 billion VND this morning. This was the fourth consecutive session of net selling exceeding 100 billion VND. While no single stock experienced a dramatic sell-off, the selling was spread across numerous stocks. Notable stocks included HDB (-48.3 billion VND), VHM (-27.2 billion VND), HPG (-24.5 billion VND), and DBC (-20.1 billion VND). On the buying side, STB stood out with a net purchase of 72.3 billion VND. This consecutive net selling streak suggests that this week is shaping up to be a record-breaking week for net selling, marking the fourth consecutive week of net outflows.
The VN-Index closed the morning session down 5.61 points, slipping to 1273.87 points. The lowest close for October was 1269.93 points, and the intramonth low was 1264.65 points. Thus, the index has retreated to just above the recent short-term low, which had initially inspired hopes for a more positive market sentiment ahead of the Q3 earnings season. However, those expectations have not materialized so far.
