The stock market experienced a rare week of sharp declines.

The Vietnamese stock market just concluded a volatile trading week, leaving investors with mixed feelings. From initial optimism at the start of the week, the market quickly shifted to a pessimistic state as the VN-Index plummeted sharply, marking its deepest weekly decline since the tariff shock in April 2025.

VN-Index "plunges," losing the 1,650-point mark, investors face a turbulent trading week.

At the end of the trading week from December 8th to 12th, the VN-Index fell a total of 94.43 points, equivalent to more than 5.4% compared to the previous week, closing at 1,646.89 points. The main index officially lost the important support level of 1,650 points. On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also followed the negative trend, falling 10.56 points (-4.05%) to 250.09 points. For the entire week, the VN-Index decreased by 100.28 points (-5.74%), while the HNX-Index decreased by 7.05 points (-7.47%).

The events of the past week left many investors stunned. After a more than 12-point increase at the beginning of the week, fueled by the positive momentum from the previous week, many expected the market to continue its upward trend. However, the reality was completely the opposite, with subsequent sessions witnessing a strong increase in selling pressure, pushing the index down continuously. The peak was the trading session on December 12th, when the VN-Index plummeted more than 52 points, with market breadth entirely skewed towards sellers: across the entire market, 607 stocks declined, including 58 that hit the floor limit, overwhelmingly outnumbering the 171 stocks that increased in price and 33 that hit the ceiling limit.

The sharp decline at the end of the week also caused the VN-Index to record its deepest weekly drop since the major shock in April. Pessimism spread as the market almost completely lost support from key blue-chip stocks, while bargain-hunting capital proved weak, insufficient to offset the increasing selling pressure.

The downward pressure this week mainly came from large-cap stocks, especially the Vingroup group. VIC, VHM, VRE, and VPL all experienced sharp corrections. In just four consecutive declining sessions, the VN-Index lost nearly 107 points, with the "Vin group quartet" alone contributing over 34 points to the overall decline. In terms of impact, the 10 stocks with the most negative impact subtracted nearly 24 points from the VN-Index, with VHM alone causing a drop of almost 7 points. Conversely, the 10 stocks with the most positive impact contributed only about 0.5 points, demonstrating the complete dominance of sellers.

Looking at the sectors, red dominated almost the entire market in the final trading session of the week. Except for the healthcare and utilities sectors, all other sectors fell by more than 2%. The non-essential consumer goods sector became the "dark spot" of the market, with numerous stocks experiencing sharp declines or hitting the floor limit, such as VPL, PET, and TTF; large-cap stocks like MWG (-4.62%), FRT (-6.67%), and DGW (-4.97%) also faced strong downward pressure. In particular, key sectors such as finance, real estate, and industry saw a series of stocks falling to their lower limit, reflecting short-term panic.

Foreign investor activity was also a notable negative point. After a week of exceptionally high net buying exceeding 4,300 billion VND, foreign investors quickly reverted to strong net selling. Cumulatively over 5 sessions, foreign investors sold a net of nearly 6,000 billion VND, with over 4,500 billion VND sold in the first two sessions alone. By exchange, foreign investors sold a net of 5,791 billion VND on the HoSE, 115.72 billion VND on the HNX, and 68.64 billion VND on UPCoM. In the final session of the week, VIC saw the strongest net selling with nearly 183 billion VND, followed by VCB andACB . On the buying side, HPG was the most heavily bought stock with nearly 88 billion VND.

In contrast to foreign investors, securities companies' proprietary trading desks maintained a net buying position with a value of nearly 396 billion VND during the week, mainly concentrated on the HoSE exchange, which somewhat helped to alleviate selling pressure.

Commenting on market developments, experts from the Vietnam Investment and Development Bank Securities Company (BSC) believe that the VN-Index's drop of over 52 points on December 12th indicates a strong negative market breadth, with 17 out of 18 sectors experiencing declines. “The market was dragged down by large-cap stocks; investors should prioritize risk management and trade cautiously in the coming sessions. The next support level for the VN-Index is around 1,625 points,” the BSC expert emphasized.

Meanwhile, Vietcap Securities assesses that the VN-Index is experiencing a downward correction with a high amplitude, but the fact that the index closed around the MA100 support zone (approximately 1,650 points) could open up the possibility of technical rebounds, with the nearest resistance target at 1,680 points next week. However, Thien Viet Securities (TVS) is more cautious, suggesting that the downtrend may continue, with the next strong support zone in the range of 1,600 - 1,620 points.

From a strategic perspective, many securities companies such as VCBS recommend that investors prioritize risk management, review their portfolios, and resolutely restructure underperforming positions. Reducing leverage, avoiding early bottom-fishing, and waiting for more stable price levels are considered appropriate options in a market still fraught with potential for significant volatility.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/thi-truong-chung-khoan-trai-qua-tuan-giam-sau-hiem-thay-175117.html