Share plunge as Omicron worries rattle investors
Share plunge as Omicron worries rattle investors
Vietnamese shares plunged on Friday as the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant dampened investor sentiment, triggering worries about hits to a nascent economic recovery.
The market benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) lost 2.61 per cent to end at 1,443.32 points.
It had lost 0.21 per cent to end Thursday at 1,482.05 points.
The market's breadth was negative with 61 stocks rising, while 415 slid.
Market liquidity declined compared to the previous session as investors poured over VND33 trillion (US$1.4 billion) into the southern exchange, equivalent to a trading volume of 1.1 billion shares.
The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index lost 2.39 per cent, to end at 1,503.98 points. Twenty-eight in the VN30 basket decreased, while one increased.
Strong selling pressure appeared, causing a series of large stocks to plunge, some stocks were even dragged down to the floor prices. Becamex (BCM) fell to the floor price at VND49,300 per share, The Viet Nam Rubber Group (GVR) fell 5.6 per cent to VND36,500 per share, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) dropped 5 per cent to VND42,000 per share, Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) slid 4.6 per cent to VND57,800 per share.
Banking stocks also fell and put great pressure on the overall market, with losers including Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (STB), Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Military Bank (MBB) and Vietinbank (CTG), VPBank (VPB), Techcombank (TCB), Tien Phong Bank (TPB) and Lien Viet Post Bank (LPB).
The securities group were the worst performers with 18 stocks falling, six stocks hitting the floor prices and only one gainer. Viet Nam Bank For Industry & Trade Securities JSC (CTS), Bank for Investment & Development of Vietnam Securities Company (BSI), VIX Securities Joint Stock Company (VIX), Viet Dragon Securities Corporation (VDS) and Agribank Securities Corporation (AGR) all plummeted to the floor prices. Industry-leading codes such as SSI Securities (SSI), Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HCM) or VNDirect (VND) also plunged from 6-6.7 per cent.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index lost 1.96 per cent to end Friday at 449.27 points.
During the trading session, nearly 153.8 million shares were traded on HNX, worth nearly VND4 trillion.
