HÀ NỘI — The market closed the week on a negative note due to lingering selling force, sending the VN-Index down more than 2 per cent and wiping more than VNĐ175 trillion (US$6.7 billion) off the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE)'s market capitalisation.

Following a loss of more than 27 points in the previous session, the benchmark came under pressure from the opening bell on Friday and spent most of the trading day in negative territory.

The VN-Index finished down 36.55 points, or 2.1 per cent, at 1,729.08 points. Combined with Thursday's decline, the benchmark has lost around 64 points in just two sessions.

The HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) also fell 3.35 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 279.99 points. 

Market breadth reflected the strength of the selling pressure, with 357 stocks declining against only 104 gainers. Losses spread across major sectors and were particularly pronounced among large-cap stocks.

The VN30 basket was almost entirely in negative territory. Techcombank (TCB) was the only constituent to advance, gaining 0.95 per cent, while Vinamilk (VNM) closed unchanged. The remaining 28 stocks declined, pushing the VN30-Index down more than 32 points to around 1,876 points.

Real estate remained at the centre of the sell-off, particularly stocks linked to Vingroup.

Vingroup (VIC) dropped 3.6 per cent, Vinhomes (VHM) lost 5 per cent, Vinpearl (VPL) declined 3.3 per cent and Vincom Retail (VRE) fell 2.6 per cent.

VIC and VHM alone erased over 15 points from the VN-Index, making them the two biggest drags on the benchmark during the session.

The sharp decline reduced HoSE's market capitalisation by more than VNĐ175.4 trillion, bringing the total to around VNĐ8.3 quadrillion.

Foreign trading added to pressure on the market, with overseas investors recording net sales of nearly VNĐ900 billion.

Saigon-Hanoi Securities (SHS) said market performance could become increasingly differentiated in the coming period, with individual stock movements more closely tied to corporate earnings prospects.

The second-quarter earnings season has largely ended, leaving the market in an information gap in which investors have fewer major domestic catalysts to drive broad-based buying.

According to SHS, movements in the VN-Index remain heavily influenced by Vingroup-related stocks and the banking sector.

Bank stocks are currently trading at an average price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 8.6 times and a price-to-book (P/B) ratio of 1.35 times. 

Vingroup-related shares, meanwhile, are trading at relatively high valuations following their earlier rally, with their short- and medium-term price trends shifting into a consolidation phase.

The market's latest retreat came after the VN-Index had recovered from late July and moved close to the psychologically important 1,800-point level earlier this week. The two-session sell-off has erased a significant part of those gains. — BIZHUB/VNS