A customer fills up at a petrol station of Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX). PLX declined 7 per cent on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares posted their largest one-day decline in three weeks after US crude oil fell below zero for the first time ever.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange dived 3.54 per cent to end Tuesday at 766.84 points.

It was the index’s biggest daily loss since March 30 when it tumbled 4.86 per cent.

The VN-Index had gained a total of 4.88 per cent in the previous six days since April 13.

Nearly 397.4 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth VNĐ6.1 trillion (US$259.4 million).

Local stocks were hit hard as investors panicked after US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slumped 306 per cent to finish Monday at negative $37.63 a barrel.

It was up 93 per cent to trade at minus $2.58 a barrel on Tuesday as investors feared lockdowns and travel restrictions will be extended and hamper economic recovery.

Hurt by the sharp decline of US crude, the mining and energy sector index on the Vietnamese market dipped 5.4 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.

PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) lost 6.3 per cent, Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX) declined 7 per cent, PetroVietnam Mud Drilling (PVC) plunged 8.9 per cent, and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) dived 9.3 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively.

Other sectors such as retail, banking, real estate, brokerage, logistics, food and beverage, agriculture, construction and technology also traded in the negative territory.

Pillars that were under selling pressure included Vingroup (VIC) down 3.3 per cent, Bank for Investment and Development (BID) down 6.5 per cent, Techcombank (TCB) down -4.8 per cent and budget airline Vietjet (VJC) down -1.9 per cent.

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) plunged 4.55 per cent – the worst fall since March 9 – to close Tuesday's session at 104.70 points.

On the HNX, many blue-chips also dropped strongly such as Saigon Hanoi Bank (SHB) falling -9.8 per cent, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) down 4.3 per cent and Vicostone (VCS) dropping 6.2 per cent.

The northern market index fell 0.71 per cent on Monday.

The market also faced pressure from foreign net selling. Foreign investors net sold VNĐ210.58 billion on the HOSE, including Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID) (VNĐ36.39 billion), Thành Thành Công-Biên Hòa JSC (STB) (VNĐ33.21 billion) and Vingroup (VIC) (VNĐ32.14 billion). They were net sellers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ30.37 billion.

“The VN-Index is forecast to face correcting pressure in the upcoming sessions with short-term technical support at 720- 730 point range. Stocks will witness wide variation in prices following upcoming quarterly business results,” Thành Công Securities Co (TCSC) said in a daily report. — VNS