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 marks the derivatives expiry, and caution prevailed after three consecutive losing sessions. The large-cap stocks failed to stabilize the market, despite VCB and VIC trading in the green. 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 decline was driven by the weakness in the large-cap stocks, but the overall breadth also indicated selling pressure across the market. Specifically, the best breadth for the index this morning was 162 gainers vs 71 losers, but by 10 am, it narrowed to 159 gainers vs 127 losers, and by 11 am, it stood at 108 gainers vs 185 losers. The session ended with 67 gainers and 270 losers.
The VN30-Index closed 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 the red. Fortunately, the decline in the large-caps was relatively modest, with HPG leading the losses among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, falling 0.92%. However, eight stocks in the basket fell by more than 1%, with SSB and GVR being the weakest performers, down 2.1% and 1.66%, respectively.
Across the HoSE, out of the 270 declining stocks, 78 fell by more than 1%. Only four stocks had notable liquidity, with transaction values exceeding VND 100 billion: MSN decreased by 1.24% with a matching value of VND 216.9 billion; HDB fell by 1.11% with VND 137.7 billion; DBC dropped by 2.84% with VND 122 billion; and HCM declined by 1.32% with VND 101.6 billion. The total matching value on the exchange decreased by more than 6% compared to yesterday morning, reaching over VND 4,766 billion. Many stocks witnessed sharp declines coupled with low liquidity, indicating a withdrawal of funds.
In addition to the expiry effect, the contraction in trading activity also reflected investors’ disappointment with the 1300-point region, as the market kept repeating the same patterns. Without a breakthrough, investors, though not ready to “liquidate” their portfolios, lacked the motivation to buy more. As a result, the market dynamics shifted in favor of sellers, giving them the power to determine the extent of the price decline.
Stocks that went against the downward trend this morning mostly had modest trading volumes, ranging from a few hundred million to a few billion dong. Out of the 67 gainers, 22 rose by more than 1%, but none stood out in terms of liquidity. While YEG, HVH, PVP, MSH, TIP, and NO1 saw strong price movements, their liquidity was limited to a few billion dong at most. YEG, the most liquid stock among them, had a matching value of only VND 13.7 billion, which is not sufficient to ensure price reliability due to the low participation.
Foreign investors continued their significant net selling on HoSE, withdrawing another VND 288.8 billion this morning. This marks the fourth consecutive morning session with net selling exceeding VND 100 billion. While no single stock experienced a sudden surge in selling, the selling pressure was spread across numerous stocks. Notably, HDB, VHM, HPG, and DBC witnessed the largest net selling, with HDB leading the way at VND 48.3 billion, followed by VHM at VND 27.2 billion, HPG at VND 24.5 billion, and DBC at VND 20.1 billion. On the buying side, STB stood out with a net buying value of VND 72.3 billion. This continuous net selling trend suggests that this week is shaping up to be a record-breaking 10th week of net selling and the fourth consecutive week of outflows.
The VN-Index closed the morning session down 5.61 points, falling to 1273.87 points. The lowest close for October so far was 1269.93 points, and the intramonth low was 1264.65 points. As a result, the index has retreated to its recent short-term low, which had initially inspired hopes for a more positive market sentiment ahead of the Q3 financial reporting season. However, those hopes have not materialized thus far.
