HÀ NỘI — The stock market suffered one of its sharpest declines since the beginning of the year on Monday as widespread selling pressure swept across the market amid growing concerns over international geopolitical developments.

Investor sentiment was negatively affected by renewed tensions in the Middle East, prompting a more cautious approach to risk assets and triggering sell-offs across multiple sectors.

At the close of trading, the VN-Index on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE) dropped 48.37 points, or 2.6 per cent, to 1,790.53 points.

Market breadth on the southern bourse turned sharply negative, with the number of declining stocks nearly quadrupling that of gainers, 250 to 66.

In contrast, the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) rose by 4.57 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 298.36 points.

Market liquidity surged as investors accelerated selling activity. Total trading value across the market reached approximately VNĐ20.3 trillion (US$770.5 million), significantly higher than in recent sessions.

Large-cap stocks remained at the centre of the market downturn.

Within the VN30 basket, 27 stocks closed lower, only two advanced and Sacombank (STB) was the sole constituent to maintain its reference price. As a result, the VN30-Index fell nearly 50 points to 1,936 points.

Notably, the market downturn spread well beyond speculative counters and affected many blue-chip stocks that traditionally support the benchmark index. Shares linked to the Vingroup ecosystem, which had served as a major pillar of the market during several recent correction phases, were also hit by strong selling pressure.

Among the stocks exerting the strongest downward pressure on the benchmark index, Vingroup (VIC) declined 5.8 per cent, making it the largest negative contributor to the VN-Index during the session.

Other major decliners included Vinhomes (VHM), which fell 3.5 per cent, BIDV (BID), down 2.4 per cent, VPBank (VPB), down 3.2 per cent and Techcombank (TCB), down 2.7 per cent.

The market pared some losses thanks to gains in several stocks. LPBank (LPB) gained 1.4 per cent, while VPS Securities (VCK) rose by 1.1 per cent. Real estate developer Novaland (NVL) advanced by 2.2 per cent and Petrovietnam Refining and Petrochemical Corporation (BSR) added 0.4 per cent.

Foreign investor activity also weighed on market sentiment. Overseas investors returned to net-selling, recording net sales of nearly VNĐ700 billion during the trading session. — BIZHUB/VNS