A Vietcombank teller talks to a customer at its office in Hà Nội. The bank's shares plunged nearly 3.1 per cent on Monday, leading the market's downtrend. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The market saw a sharp drop on Monday as selling pressure suddenly intensified across the board, sending red screens dominating trading from large-cap blue chips to more speculative names amid a rapid deterioration in investor sentiment.

On the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index fell 43.94 points, or 2.5 per cent, to 1,743.51 points, marking the steepest decline since mid-March. On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index lost 7.29 points, or 2.5 per cent, to 284.41 points.

The market breadth was completely to the downside, with 618 stocks down, 780 shares holding at the reference price and 147 advancing. Of which, HoSE saw 296 decliners and 45 gainers.

Selling pressure concentrated strongly in the large-cap segment, leaving VN30 with little chance to rebound throughout the session. The VN30 basket recorded 25 stocks down, four up and only Vingroup (VIC) staying at the reference price, pushing VN30 down nearly 50 points to 1,887 points.

The broad sell-off in major stocks was the biggest drag on the VN-Index.

Among the notable decliners were Vinhomes (VHM), Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Techcombank (TCB), MBBank (MBB), PV Gas (GAS), Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) and VPBank (VPB). These stocks fell in a range of 2.5 - 6.1 per cent.

The selloff extended into other leading sectors.

In the financials–securities group, Sahabank (SHB), VIX Securities (VIX), Vietinbank Securities (CTS), Baoviet Securities (BVS), FPT Securities (FTS) and Viet Dragon Securities (VDS) reportedly all closed at the floor.

Real estate also faced heavy pressure, with multiple names including Dat Xanh Group (DXG), Phat Dat Real Estate Development Corporation (PDR), DIC Group (DIG) and Hoang Huy Investment Financial Service (TCH) all logging the maximum daily loss of 7 per cent.

Foreign investors reportedly maintained a net-selling stance, although at a scale that was not too large, with a net sell value of nearly VNĐ44.5 billion on HoSE and over VNĐ40 billion on HNX.

According to MB Securities' early-week strategic report, the stock market is being influenced by a macro backdrop in which banks continue to maintain high deposit rates to retain funding amid tightening system liquidity.

In that environment, high interest rates and limited liquidity can increase pressure on corporate earnings, particularly for industries that rely heavily on financial leverage.

"The spillover effect on the market is clearly evident. Although securities valuations have reached an attractive level, weak cash flow has left trading liquidity lacklustre and makes near-term price movements difficult to predict," the securities firm said. — BIZHUB/VNS