An outlet of Điện Máy Xanh electronics supermarket in the southern province of Long An, run by Mobile World Group (MWG). MWG hit the floor price on Wednesday after the news about its salesperson tested positive for COVID-19. — Photo dienmayxanh.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares plunged on Wednesday with VN-Index recorded as the worst performing in Asia during today's trading session.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index dropped 3.12 per cent to 811.35 points.

The index edged up 0.24 per cent to close Tuesday at 837.50 points.

VN-Index had rallied slightly on Tuesday, helping reclaim some of Monday’s brutal losses, but that failed to translate into improved sentiment on Wednesday as investors were alarmed with widespread of the COVID-19 epidemic across the country with some areas being put under quarantine.

“VN-Index will continually receive support from 780-800 points during remaining sessions of the week. We maintain our opinion that the market will experience alternative ups and downs to retest this support zone several times,” Bảo Việt Securities Co (BVSC) said.

“However, after the recent plunge, various stocks became oversold, therefore, the market may possibly soon enter a short recovery from the aforementioned support zone,” it said.

A total of 318.6 million shares worth VNĐ5.5 trillion ($236.4 million) were traded in the southern market.

On Wednesday afternoon, the news about the new flu-like infected cases negatively affected investor sentiment. Notably, the 35^th case positive for COVID-19 is a salesperson at a Điện Máy Xanh electronics supermarket in Hải Châu District, central Đà Nẵng City.

This caused retail stocks such as Mobile World Group (MWG), FPT Retail (FRT) and Phú Nhuận Jewelry  PNJ to hit the floor prices.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index - the main driving factor of the stock market - dropped 3.97 per cent to close 758.16 points.

In the VN30 basket, 28 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity declined while two increased.

Among the worst-performing large-caps were Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID), Vietcombank (VCB), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Techcombank (TCB), Vietinbank (CTG), VPBank (VPB), Vietjet (VJC), National Petroleum Group (PLX), HOà Phát Group (HPG), Mobile World Group (MWG), Masan Group (MSN), Vingroup (VIC), Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), Military Bank (MBB) and Sabeco (SAB). Of them, BID, VCB and GAS were the biggest decliners on Wednesday, down by 3.4 per cent, 3 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively.

On a sector basis, 24 out of 25 sectors across the market lost ground.

Dragging on the market were energy, agriculture, wholesale, real estate, rubber production, logistics, construction, insurance, technology, retail, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, banking and finance, seafood processing, and food and beverage stocks.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index decreased 0.64 per cent to end Wednesday at 105.52 points.

The northern market index lost 0.14 per cent on Tuesday, ending at 106.20 points.

Foreign investors net-sold VNĐ245.76 billion on HOSE, including Hoà Phát Group (HPG) (VNĐ59.70 billion), Vietjet (VJC) (VNĐ57.23 billion) and E1VFVN30 (VNĐ47.84 billion). They were net sellers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ14.84 billion. — VNS