HCMC – Vietnam’s stock market took a steep dive on April 3 as new U.S. tariffs rattled investors, leading to a broad sell-off that left stocks of most industries falling into negative territory.
By midday, the VN-Index of the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HOSE) had shed 82.28 points, or 6.2%, to 1,235.55. Selling pressure persisted into the afternoon session, but many stocks, having already plummeted to their daily floor prices, had little room to fall further.
The benchmark index eventually closed down by 87.99 points, or 6.68%, at 1,229.84 points, its lowest level since the beginning of the year.
HOSE saw 517 stocks declining and 13 others winning, including 280 hitting their floor prices.
Trading volume surged to a record high. Over 1.76 billion shares changed hands for a total of VND39.63 trillion in matched orders, more than double the previous session. Block deals contributed around 46.2 million shares worth VND1.31 trillion.
Foreign investors were net sellers with almost VND2.7 trillion worth of shares sold, especially bluechips TPB, FPT, VNM and VCB on HOSE.
Bluechips took a heavy hit, with 28 out of 30 stocks in the VN30 basket crashing to their floor prices. Only VNM and SSB remained above their lower limits, though both still ended the day with losses.
Large-cap stocks VCB, BID, VIC, and CTG weighed heavily on the VN-Index, collectively dragging it down by nearly 21 points. Although a handful of stocks, including NAF, PGI, DTL and BTT, managed to remain in positive territory, their gains had little impact on the overall performance of the VN-Index.
Bank stocks, such as ACB, VPB, TPB and MBB, led by matched volume, ranging from roughly 40 million to nearly 91 million shares. HPG, SSI and VIX also posted high trading volumes.
Lender STB took the lead by liquidity on the southern market, with nearly 91 million shares changing hands.
A few bright spots emerged. Some mineral stocks, including YBM, staged impressive rallies. YBM gained 6.7% to end at VND16,750. NAF also advanced, reversing its earlier floor-price loss to close 6.3% higher at VND21,000.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 17.18 points, or 7.22%, and closed at 220.95 points, with 214 losers and 14 winners. Total trading volume reached about 144.9 million shares worth a total of VND2.27 trillion.
