VN-Index hits 3-week low

The index closed 57 points lower after losing nearly 24 points on Friday.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) increased by 9 percent to VND18.52 trillion, highest in a month.

“It is turning into a Black Monday in Asia,” Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA, wrote in a client note, as the Hang Seng Index, KOSPI Composite Index and Nikkei 225 all dropped by more than 3 percent.

The fall came as red-hot inflation reignited worries about even more aggressive U.S. interest rate increases while new mass Covid-19 testing in China sparked concerns of more crippling lockdowns, Reuters reported.

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks in Vietnam, saw 29 tickers in the red.

Seven tickers hit the floor, including PNJ of Phu Nhuan Jewelry, VPB of private lender VPBank and BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings.

MSN of conglomerate Masan Group closed 6.8 percent lower, and MBB of lender MB lost 6.7 percent.

POW of electricity producer Petrovietnam Power Corporation was the only blue chip that bucked the trend with a 1.7 percent rise.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of VND186 billion, mainly selling DGC of Duc Giang Chemicals Group and SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation.

The HNX-Index at the Hanoi Stock Exchange, where mid and small caps list, was down 5.9 percent while the UPCoM-Index at the Unlisted Public Companies Market was down by 3.4 percent.