Share plunge as Omicron worries rattle investors

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares plunged on Friday as the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant dampened investor sentiment, triggering worries about hits to a nascent economic recovery.

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) lost  二. 六 一 per cent to end at  一, 四 四 三. 三 二 points.

It had lost 0. 二 一 per cent to end Thursday at  一, 四 八 二.0 五 points.

The market's breadth was negative with  六 一 stocks rising, while  四 一 五 slid.

Market liquidity declined compared to the previous session as investors poured over VNĐ 三 三 trillion (US$ 一. 四 billion) into the southern exchange, equivalent to a trading volume of  一. 一 billion shares.

The  三0 biggest stocks tracker VN 三0-Index lost  二. 三 九 per cent, to end at  一, 五0 三. 九 八 points. Twenty-eight in the VN 三0 basket decreased, while one increased.

Strong selling pressure appeared, causing a series of large stocks to plunge, some stocks were even dragged down to the floor prices. Becamex (BCM) fell to the floor price at VNĐ 四 九, 三00 per share, The Việt Nam Rubber Group (GVR) fell  五. 六 per cent to VNĐ 三 六, 五00 per share, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) dropped  五 per cent to VNĐ 四 二,000 per share, Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) slid  四. 六 per cent to VNĐ 五 七, 八00 per share.

Banking stocks also fell and put great pressure on the overall market, with losers including Sài Gòn Thương Tín Co妹妹ercial Joint Stock Bank (STB), Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Bank (SHB), Asia Co妹妹ercial Bank (ACB), Military Bank (MBB) and Vietinbank (CTG), VPBank (VPB), Techcombank (TCB), Tiên Phong Bank (TPB) and Liên Việt Post Bank (LPB).

The securities group were the worst performers with  一 八 stocks falling, six stocks hitting the floor prices and only one gainer. Việt Nam Bank For Industry Trade Securities JSC (CTS), Bank for Investment Development of Vietnam Securities Company (BSI), VIX Securities Joint Stock Company (VIX), Việt Dragon Securities Corporation (VDS) and Agribank Securities Corporation (AGR) all plu妹妹eted to the floor prices. Industry-leading codes such as SSI Securities (SSI), Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HCM) or VNDirect (VND) also plunged from  六- 六. 七 per cent.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index lost  一. 九 六 per cent to end Friday at  四 四 九. 二 七 points.

During the trading session, nearly  一 五 三. 八 million shares were traded on HNX, worth nearly VNĐ 四 trillion. — VNS