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 rest of the session witnessed a continuous downward trend, ending the morning session at the lowest point with four times as many losers as gainers.
Today marks the futures 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 midday break. The drag from the large-cap stocks was evident, and the overall market breadth also indicated widespread selling. Specifically, the best market 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 only 67 gainers vs 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 these heavyweights was not significant, with HPG leading the losses with a 0.92% drop. However, eight stocks in this basket fell by more than 1%, with SSB and GVR being the weakest performers, declining by 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 trading volume, exceeding VND 100 billion: MSN decreased by 1.24% with a matching volume of VND 216.9 billion; HDB fell by 1.11% with a volume of VND 137.7 billion; DBC dropped by 2.84% with a volume of VND 122 billion, and HCM declined by 1.32% with a volume of VND 101.6 billion. The trading value on this exchange decreased by more than 6% compared to yesterday’s morning session, reaching just over VND 4,766 billion. Many stocks witnessed a significant decline in combination with low liquidity, indicating a withdrawal of funds.
In addition to the expiry effect, the contraction in trading volume also reflected investors’ disappointment with the 1300-point region, as the same scenarios kept repeating. If the market fails to break through this level, investors, even if not ready to “disband” their portfolios, have no incentive to buy more. Consequently, the market is left in the hands of sellers, and the extent of the price decline will be determined by them.
Stocks that went against the downward trend today mostly had modest trading volumes, ranging from a few hundred million to a few billion dong. Among the 67 gainers, 22 stocks increased by more than 1%, with no significant standouts. While YEG, HVH, PVP, MSH, TIP, and NO1 saw strong price movements, their liquidity was only in the range of a few billion dong. YEG, the best performer, had a matching volume of just VND 13.7 billion. This level of liquidity does not guarantee the reliability of the price due to the low participation.
Foreign investors continued their net selling streak on the HoSE, withdrawing another VND 288.8 billion this morning. This was the fourth consecutive session of net selling with a value of over one hundred billion dong. While no single stock experienced a significant sell-off, the selling was spread across numerous stocks. Notable stocks included HDB (-VND 48.3 billion), VHM (-VND 27.2 billion), HPG (-VND 24.5 billion), and DBC (-VND 20.1 billion). On the buying side, STB stood out with a net purchase of VND 72.3 billion. This continuous net selling trend suggests that this week is shaping up to be a record-breaking week of net selling, marking the fourth consecutive week of foreign capital outflows.
The VN-Index closed the morning session down 5.61 points, falling 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 back to its recent short-term low, which had initially inspired hopes for a more positive market sentiment with the Q3 financial report season. However, those expectations have not been met so far.
