HCMC – Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index reversed a near 37-point loss to close 5.13 points higher at 1,818.27 on March 4, driven by the strong buying of large-cap stocks during the afternoon session.
The index had been weighed down by heavy selling in the morning but recovered as bottom-fishing demand rose in the VN30 basket, which groups the 30 largest-cap stocks on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange. At the close, 27 bluechips inched up compared with their midday levels.
Among the major gainers, VHM rose 4.94% from its morning level to finish at its reference price. MWG recovered 3.98% from midday and ended 0.68% above the reference level. SSI and VRE closed up 3.37% and 6.26%, respectively.
Banking stocks such as VCB, BID, CTG and LPB also reversed their earlier declines to end higher. Oil/gas and brokerage stocks contributed to the recovery.
Securities brokerage SSI led the market by liquidity with over 92.5 million shares changing hands.
VCI, which had edged up 0.79% at midday with a trading value of VND483.5 billion, closed at its ceiling price. Other brokerage stocks also advanced, including HCM, up 2.93%; VND, up 2.45%; VCK, up 4.51%; MBS, up 3.72%; and SHS, up 2.73%.
Total trading volume on the southern exchange exceeded 1.4 billion shares, with trading value surpassing VND44.8 trillion.
The rebound contrasted with declines across several Asian markets the same day amid concerns over escalating geopolitical tensions.
South Korea’s KOSPI at one point fell as much as 12%, triggering a circuit breaker, an emergency measure by exchanges to temporarily halt trading if the market or an individual security drops below a certain percentage. Thailand’s SETI dropped 7%, while Japan’s Nikkei lost more than 4%.
