VN-Index ends 4th session in red

The index started off in the red, where it remained all day. It closed nearly 14 points lower, having lost nearly 72 points in the last four sessions.

VN-Index is now at a six-week low after reaching a new peak earlier this month.

A total 339 tickers, or two-thirds of stocks on the main bourse Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), fell, with 90 of them hitting floor price.

Several analysts have said the drop of VN-Index in recent days came as speculative stocks like those of real estate developer FLC have pulled the market down, especially as investors using leverage were forced to sell.

Speculative real estate stocks like CEO of CEO Group, DIG of Development Investment Construction and CII of Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment started off and closed the day at floor price.

FLC and related stocks were also at floor price with almost no buyers. FLC is now at a two-month low after its chairman Trinh Van Quyet failed to disclose his plan to sell nearly 75 million shares on Jan. 10.

Brokerage stocks continued to be sold in droves with SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation falling 6.6 percent and VND of brokerage VNDirect losing 6.9 percent.

However, 19 out of 30 blue chip stocks were in the green, led by STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank, up 4 percent, VJC of budget airline Vietjet, up 3.3 percent and BID of state-owned lender BIDV, up 2.9 percent.

Foreign investors were net buyers amid the selling spree. This was their third straight net buying session in a row to the tune of VND897 billion.

They focused STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank and SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 5.42 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market dropped 1.73 percent.