Lacking leading stocks, VN-Index corrects after strong recovery.

Following an impressive recovery of nearly 50 points in previous sessions, the Vietnamese stock market entered the trading session on December 17th with a clear sense of caution. Profit-taking pressure and the absence of leading stocks prevented the VN-Index from maintaining its upward momentum, resulting in a slight correction at the close of the session.

Profit-taking pressure returned, causing the VN-Index to retreat to 1,673 points.

From the start of the morning session, the market opened slightly higher. However, cautious buying and selling pressure caused the VN-Index to quickly fluctuate around the reference level, with minor oscillations. The flow of money did not show decisiveness, reflecting investors' wait-and-see attitude after a rapid recovery but with unconvincing liquidity.

In the latter half of the morning session, the market traded sluggishly below the reference level. At the end of the morning session, the HoSE recorded 119 gainers and 178 losers; the VN-Index fell 1.79 points (-0.11%) to 1,677.39 points. Cautious buying pressure and the lack of leading blue-chip stocks kept the index mostly moving within a narrow range. The only bright spots were the energy and public investment sectors, with many stocks surging with active trading volume.

From a technical perspective, after five consecutive days of decline, the market has shown a significant recovery. The RSI indicator has bottomed out and reversed upwards, while the CMF continues to remain above zero, indicating that bottom-buying demand is still present. However, for the recovery to be sustainable, liquidity needs to improve significantly, with trading sessions exceeding and maintaining stable levels above 30,000 billion VND. If the money flow does not improve, the risk of a downward reversal remains at any time.

Entering the afternoon session, increased selling pressure caused the VN-Index to reverse and correct downwards. The market fluctuated continuously around the 1,680-point mark within a narrow range, indicating a tug-of-war between buyers and sellers. Leading stocks failed to maintain their morning strength, becoming the main reason for the index's decline.

At the close of trading on December 17th, the VN-Index fell 5.52 points (-0.33%) to 1,673.66 points. The HNX-Index decreased by 1.96 points to 253.12 points, while the UPCoM-Index rose slightly by 0.46 points to 118.76 points. Total market liquidity reached 495 million shares traded, equivalent to a transaction value of over 19,532 billion VND – a level insufficient to solidify an upward trend.

Market breadth leaned towards the negative with 400 declining stocks compared to 284 rising stocks, including 11 stocks hitting the floor limit and 28 stocks hitting the ceiling limit. The VN30 basket, in particular, showed significant weakness with only 6 stocks rising, while 21 declined and 1 hit the floor limit. The VN30-Index closed down 0.62%, reflecting increased active selling pressure in the large-cap stock group.

Looking at the sectors, public investment stocks were a rare bright spot. GEE surged 6.98% with trading volume exceeding 123 billion VND, marking a strong recovery after a series of 7 consecutive days of sharp declines. GEX increased 3.69% with trading volume reaching 547 billion VND; VCG and CTD also rose by more than 1%. In addition, some energy stocks like PVD increased 4.45% with trading volume exceeding 541 billion VND, indicating that capital is still seeking opportunities in individual sectors.

Conversely, the banking sector faced strong selling pressure as most stocks declined simultaneously: CTG fell 1.56%, TCB 1.21%,SHB 1.26%, VPB 0.88%, and VCB 0.35%. The securities sector fared no better, with SSI down 1.98%, VIX 2.84%, HCM 1.71%, and SHS 1.87%. The steel sector continued its negative performance, with HPG down 1.72% and HSG down 0.94%.

Notably, DGC shares continued to be heavily sold and experienced their second consecutive session of hitting the floor price, with over 12.6 million units remaining unsold at the floor price – indicating that selling pressure remains very strong for this stock.

Foreign investors' trading activity was relatively balanced during the session, with net buying value reaching only VND 4.71 billion. However, net selling was concentrated on several large-cap stocks such as VIC (-VND 170.9 billion), CTG (-VND 81.1 billion), VHM (-VND 64.8 billion), and MSN (-VND 51 billion). Conversely, foreign investors made notable net purchases in HDB,FPT , GEX, PVD, and KDH, helping to somewhat mitigate the market's decline.

Overall, the correction on December 17th reflected the market's necessary "rest" after a rapid recovery. Capital flows remain cautious, focusing on individual short-term opportunities, while blue-chip stocks have yet to play a leading role. Given the lack of significant improvement in liquidity, the VN-Index is likely to continue fluctuating in the coming sessions, awaiting clearer confirmation of the trend.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/thieu-tru-dan-dat-vn-index-dieu-chinh-sau-nhip-hoi-phuc-manh-175290.html