The tug-of-war between blue-chip stocks prevented the VN-Index from falling sharply.

VN-Index - Image 1.

At the close of trading on January 21, the VN-Index fell to just over 1,885 points - Photo: QUANG DINH

Pressure is increasing.

The stock market on January 21st saw mixed movements, with selling pressure from profit-taking and support from some key stocks, while liquidity remained high.

At the close of trading, the VN-Index fell 8.34 points (-0.44%) to 1,885.44 points. The VN30-Index decreased by 5.23 points (-0.30%) to 2,080.38 points, clearly reflecting the downward pressure on blue-chip stocks. On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell 0.18%, and the UPCoM-Index fell 0.28%.

Market breadth leaned towards the selling side with 468 declining stocks and 225 rising stocks; 29 stocks hit the ceiling price, 16 stocks hit the floor price, and 170 stocks remained unchanged.

Liquidity on the HoSE remained stable at approximately 36,396 billion VND, unchanged from the previous session. Total market liquidity reached approximately 41,003 billion VND.

Foreign investors continued to net sell VND 247.8 billion, with VNM experiencing the strongest net selling (-VND 193.3 billion), followed by VCB and VIC. Conversely, GMD saw net buying of VND 129.9 billion, followed by KBC (VND 103.9 billion) and VHM (VND 95.9 billion).

Regarding trading activity, the VN-Index dropped nearly 21 points at one point during the morning session. Vingroup stocks, including VIC and VHM, played a supporting role in the market.

The surprise at the end of the morning session was that STB shares hit the ceiling price despite most banking stocks falling. The VN-Index recovered at the end of the session as many stocks such as HDB, CTG, BSR , and PVD turned green again.

By the afternoon trading session on January 21st, the VN-Index had at one point fallen sharply by 33.82 points. Several stocks unexpectedly hit their lower limit, such as HCM and VIX. The Vingroup group of stocks failed to maintain the positive performance seen in the morning session.

During the ATC session, the VN-Index was pulled back up with many stocks hitting the ceiling price, such as YEG, STB, DGC, and BSR. The energy sector acted as a support for the market, with all stocks turning green after the close of the session, including GAS (+5.26%), PVD (+4.39%), PLX (+0.17%), and PVT (+0.99%).

The tug-of-war between blue-chip stocks.

The industrial sector experienced the sharpest decline on January 21st, falling by 2.28%. Stocks that saw significant drops included GEE (-6.8%), GEX (-4.3%), VGC (-3.2%), and ACV (-2.9%). These stocks, such as GEE (-1.19 points), KSV (-1.11 points), BCM (-0.82 points), and HPG (-0.74 points), dragged down the index significantly.

The banking sector showed mixed performance. Some hot stocks in the recent period, such as VCB, fell 1%, pulling the index down 1.25 points; VPB fell 2.4% (-1.19 points); and MBB fell 1.5% (-0.69 points).

Meanwhile, CTG rose 1.4%, STB hit its ceiling price, and LPB increased 1.4%. STB contributed 1.61 points to the index increase, while CTG contributed 0.91 points.

Securities companies faced significant selling pressure, with HCM and DSC hitting the floor limit, VIX falling 4.7%, VND down 3.1%, SHS down 3.5%, and MBS down 3%.

The real estate sector also put pressure on the VN-Index, with VIC falling 0.62%, VHM down 0.3%, and BCM down 4.6%. Within this group, VRE bucked the trend, rising 0.3%.

Conversely, the energy and utilities sectors prevented a sharp decline in the VN-Index. GAS contributed 2.84 points, BSR 1.55 points, PVS 1.55 points, and PVS 0.86 points.

VN-Index - Image 2.