Daily Market Watch 08/08/2025: Retail Flows Drove Mid-cap Stocks Higher Despite Liquidity Concerns

MARKET HIGHLIGHT

o       The market opened under significant profit-taking pressure from both retail and institutional investors. Despite positive news from the Prime Minister directing the Ministry of Finance to urgently implement measures for Vietnam’s stock market upgrade, rising interbank interest rates (to 6.4%), a stronger USD/VND exchange rate, and the SBV shifting to net liquidity withdrawal raised concerns about a potential short-term market correction. These concerns gradually spread during the morning session, dragging the VN-Index to an intraday low of 1,565.45.

o       Strong bottom-fishing demand in the afternoon session drove a notable recovery from the day’s low, with the index closing above reference by 3.14 points (+0.2%). Large-cap stocks played a pivotal role in the late-session rebound, with significant contributions from VIC, VPB, GEE, GEX, and GAS. That said, bottom-fishing was broad-based across sectors. Market breadth improved significantly from 92 advancers vs. 214 decliners at the bottom, to 177 advancers vs. 155 decliners at the close.

o       Retail capital continued to dominate, particularly in mid-cap stocks, with the Midcap Index closing up 1.05%, outperforming peers. Small caps also attracted strong inflows, gaining 0.6%, while VN30 fell -0.3% amid persistent foreign selling. Liquidity in the mid-cap segment surged 25.5% vs. yesterday, while VN30 and small-cap liquidity rose 3.4% and 9.4%, respectively.

o      Total market liquidity rose sharply to USD 1.88 bn (+12.55% DoD), driven by increased profit-taking. Foreign investors returned to net selling, mainly during the morning session. In contrast, they net bought USD 5.6 mn in the afternoon, partially offsetting a USD 37.7 mn net sell in the morning. Major net outflows were seen in BID (-USD 8.3 mn), SSI (-USD 7.9 mn), and HPG (-USD 5.8 mn). Meanwhile, top net buys were led by VPB (+USD 8.6 mn), GEX (+USD 5.1 mn), and CII (+USD 4.8 mn).