Banks boosted the index, VN-Index averted a sharp decline in a low-liquidity session.

The trading session on December 18th marked a tense day for the Vietnamese stock market, with the VN-Index remaining mostly in the red for most of the trading time. Liquidity plummeted to unusually low levels, while strong net selling pressure from foreign investors continued to weigh heavily on investor sentiment. However, thanks to a surprise surge from banking and aviation stocks in the final minutes, the index managed a spectacular recovery, holding firm at key technical levels.

Thời báo Ngân hàng•18/12/2025

Foreign investors sold net over 851 billion VND on the HoSE exchange.

During the morning session, the VN-Index fluctuated below the reference level for almost the entire time. Early selling pressure emerged in many large-cap stocks, causing the index to drop by more than 8 points at one point. However, scattered bargain-hunting demand helped narrow the decline. By the end of the morning session, the VN-Index had only decreased by 2.09 points, equivalent to 0.12%.

Among the leading stocks, VIC andFPT were the two under the strongest pressure. Both hit their lows around 10:20 AM, with VIC falling by as much as 1.89% before stabilizing and closing down 1.68%, while FPT recovered from a 2.09% decline to -1.77%. Several other leading stocks such as VHM (-0.84%), MBB (-0.2%), and CTG (-0.72%) also recorded slight recoveries.

Conversely, green still flickered in the banking sector with VCB (+0.71%), BID (+0.66%), TCB (+0.61%), and VPB (+0.18%). Other large-cap stocks like GAS (+0.95%) and VPL (+2.28%) also helped to curb the index's decline. However, the gains in this group were not strong enough to completely outweigh the selling pressure.

The VN30-Index briefly fell by as much as 0.68% in the morning session before narrowing the decline to 0.29%, with a fairly balanced market breadth: 15 gainers and 14 losers. Notably, 11 stocks in the VN30 basket recovered by more than 1% from their lowest prices of the session, indicating relatively positive price rebound potential in the blue-chip group.

However, liquidity is a major drawback. The total trading value of the VN30 basket only reached approximately 4,488 billion VND, but accounted for 78.5% of the total trading value on the HoSE exchange. This clearly reflects the reality of cash flow: retail investors are almost completely on the sidelines, causing small and medium-sized stocks to become "frozen," while trading is mainly concentrated in large-cap stocks.

Entering the trading session for the expiration of the December VN30F1M futures contract, cautious sentiment intensified. Investors limited large transactions, mainly observing the movements of institutional capital. As a result, liquidity decreased sharply compared to previous sessions.

At the close of trading, the VN-Index edged up 3.32 points (+0.20%), closing at 1,676.98 points. The VN30-Index also rose 5.52 points (+0.29%) to 1,903.47 points, indicating that large-cap stocks maintained stability on the derivatives closing day.

The biggest negative factor for the market continued to be foreign investor activity. On the HoSE exchange, foreign investors sold net more than 851 billion VND. Selling pressure was concentrated heavily on the real estate sector and some blue-chip stocks. DXS led the list of net selling with a value of up to 451 billion VND, mainly from two large block trades after 2:40 PM. VIC also saw net selling of approximately 330 billion VND, marking the 10th consecutive net selling session, bringing the total capital outflow from this stock to over 2,500 billion VND. In addition, FPT, HDB, SSI, and DGC also experienced selling pressure of 50-100 billion VND.

On the buying side, MBB was the most heavily bought by foreign investors with a value of 95 billion VND, followed by TCB, VNM,SHB , and GEX, but the net buying value was below 55 billion VND for all of them.

Despite net selling pressure and low liquidity, the market managed to reverse course in the final minutes of the session. The brightest spot in the VN30 basket was VJC ( Vietjet Air), which surged 4.8% to 193,900 VND/share, becoming the driving force behind the index's upward movement.

Alongside the aviation sector, the banking sector also saw a resurgence. HDB surged 3.4% in the ex-dividend trading session, closing at 25,600 VND. Other stocks such as STB (+1.7%), TCB (+1.2%), and VPB (+1.1%) also contributed positively. As a result, the VN-Index held firm above 1,670 points, while the VN30-Index returned above 1,900 points.

Conversely, DGC shares of Duc Giang Chemicals continued to cause concern as they fell to the floor price for the third consecutive session, with nearly 22 million shares offered at the floor price, causing market capitalization to evaporate by nearly 6,900 billion VND in just three sessions.

Commenting on market developments, Mr. Hoang Xuan Chien - Business Development Director of VPS's investment consulting division - stated: The sharp decline in liquidity indicates that large capital flows are still observing from the sidelines. The fact that the VN-Index maintained its positive momentum is mainly due to a few key stocks, especially banks, and does not yet reflect a sustainable improvement in the trend. In the short term, the market is likely to remain volatile, and investors should be cautious of upward movements that lack confirmation from liquidity.

In fact, the trading value on the HoSE during the session reached less than 18,000 billion VND - a very low level compared to the previous boom period. In the last six weeks, only one session on this exchange recorded a trading value reaching the 1 billion USD mark, indicating that caution is still prevailing among most investors.

The December 18th session closed with a more positive outcome than expected, but the overall market picture still reflects a cautious sentiment. The VN-Index narrowly avoided a downturn thanks to the banking sector, but for a truly sustainable upward trend, the market needs more capital inflows and broad consensus across sectors.

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