A Vietnam Airlines ATR-72 aircraft. The national airline's stock hit the lower limit once again, marking a drop of over 35 per cent for the month. — Photo courtesy of Vietnam Airlines

HÀ NỘI — The stock market experienced a sharp decline on Tuesday, with major stocks also suffering significant losses. Consequently, the VN-Index witnessed its third consecutive day of significant drops.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index plunged 22.83 points, equivalent to 1.82 per cent, to 1,231.81 points.

On the southern bourse, the breadth was negative as 278 stocks declined, while 62 increased. Liquidity remained low at VNĐ18 trillion (US$705.8 million), a decrease of 14.7 per cent from the previous trading session.

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE by market capitalisation, also fell sharply by 20.64 points, or 1.59 per cent, to 1,278.67 points. The number of decliners surpassed gainers in the VN30 basket by 24 to five, while one stock ended flat.

Large-cap stocks in the banking and manufacturing sectors led the market's downturn, with the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) posting the biggest fall in market capitalisation of 3.56 per cent, contributing to a decrease of 2.31 points in the VN-Index.

Other notable decliners in the banking sector included Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MBB), down 5.61 per cent, Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (CTG), down 3.71 per cent and Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TCB), down 2.54 per cent.

Among other notable decliners, Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) saw a drop of 6.56 per cent, contributing to a nearly two point decrease in the VN-Index. Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN) hit the lower limit once again, marking a drop of over 35 per cent for the month.

The market's losses were limited by slight gains in a few stocks, led by FPT Corporation, which rose 1.13 per cent, contributing more than 0.5 points to the VN-Index.

According to Vietcombank Securities (VCBS), the increase in selling pressure towards the end of the session resulted in a significant drop in the stock market, while the lack of strong buying signals indicated that investors are cautiously observing the market amid the absence of stabilising signals.

Given the current situation, VCBS recommends that investors restructure their portfolios by reducing exposure to weak stocks, limiting new purchases and patiently waiting for clear signs of market reversal.

The Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) index also finished lower on Tuesday afternoon, declining 1.59 per cent to 234.6 points.

During the session, more than VNĐ1.2 trillion worth of shares were traded, equivalent to a trading volume of over 57 million shares on the northern bourse.

Foreign investors returned to their net selling spree as they net sold over VNĐ128 billion on the HoSE. — VNS