Vietnam stock market hits new low, could go lower

Vietnam’s stock market fell 4.11 percent on Tuesday afternoon, hitting its lowest point this year, following a dramatic plunge in the second quarter.

The country’s benchmark stock index, VN-Index, fell 39 points to 908.26 by 2:25 p.m. Tuesday, while the VN30-Index, representing a group of 30 largest capitalization stocks in the country, also fell by 3.7 percent to 895.86.

The smaller HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange and the UPCoM-Index for unlisted companies also dipped 3.7 percent and more than two percent, respectively.

Shares of banks, including Vietcombank and ACB, plunged 4-5 percent.

Meanwhile, blue chip stocks like Vinhomes JSC (VHM), Vingroup JSC (VIC), and steelmaker Hoa Sen Group (HSG) were being sold en masse, driving down the entire market.

This marks a further drop in Vietnam’s stock market after it plunged 18.19 percent in the second quarter this year, making it the worst-performing market in the world.

Local stock companies have anticipated that the VN-Index could fall to 900 points and even further.

Vietnam’s stock market had experienced its heyday since last year, when it hit a 10-year high and reached 984.24 points in the last trading session of 2017. It had not broken the 800-point barrier since 2008.

Continuing its good run, the VN-Index grew 19.33 percent in the first three months of this year, becoming the best-performing market in the world.

It passed the 1,200-point level on April 9, and has hovered at above 900 since then.