Daily Market Watch 09/03/2026: The VN-Index Records Its Largest Single-Day Decline in History Due to The Oil Price Shock

MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

o       Vietnam’s stock market opened with a sharp sell-off, plunging nearly 100 points (-6.3%) as global oil prices surged sharply overnight. Brent crude jumped 15.81% to USD 107.34/bbl, while WTI crude rose 17.24% to USD 106.57/bbl, driven by supply concerns after Israel reportedly struck Iranian oil storage facilities and a large number of oil tankers became stranded near the Strait of Hormuz. Year-to-date, global crude prices have surged 78.6%. Domestically, retail fuel prices also spiked. According to the latest price schedule from Petrolimex, gasoline prices jumped over 30% in just several days and triggered a huge panic for retail investors. As a result, the further escalation of oil price seen in the early morning was quite a shock.

o       Investors grew increasingly concerned that the sharp rise in oil prices could significantly accelerate domestic inflation and intensify exchange rate pressures. As a result, widespread position unwinding occurred across the market, with nearly all stocks dropping more than 6% shortly after the open. The broad-based decline triggered cross-margin calls across the board. As we mentioned, many retail investors have been facing serious losses in the past weeks (especially ones that are holding property, industrials, and other high beta stocks. This cascading liquidation led to massive floor-selling pressure in the broad market, with many VN30 stocks showing millions of shares in floor-price sell orders.

o       By the end of the morning session, the VN-Index had plunged a record 114.4 points (-6.47%) to 1,653.44, marking the largest single-day point decline in the 22-year history of Vietnam’s stock market. The Index broke below its February 2026 bottom and retreated to levels last seen in December 2025. Market breadth was extremely negative on HoSE, with 14 gainers versus 357 decliners, including 219 stocks hitting their floor prices due to the massive margin force sell activities by brokers. The market was extremely panic due to both the force sell and the surge of oil price to USD120/barrel.

o       In the afternoon, oil prices cooled down as the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve signaled readiness to release crude supplies if necessary. Additional positive news emerged as the Group of Seven (G7) held an emergency meeting to consider releasing 300–400 million barrels of oil. WTI retreated to below USD 100/bbl from its morning peak.

o       Foreign investors turned active buyers during the afternoon session. Despite recording USD 27.3 mn in net selling during the morning, foreign investors stepped in aggressively during the first 30 minutes of the afternoon session, helping the VN30 rebound more than 2%, while the VN-Index recovered over 1%, with several fundamentally strong stocks returning to their reference levels. However, as liquidity improved, forced liquidation pressures resumed, dragging the market lower again. Even relatively resilient names earlier in the day, such as BSR and DPM, eventually succumbed to selling pressure. By the close, HoSE market breadth deteriorated further to 11 gainers versus 366 decliners, with 233 stocks hitting their floor prices. The VN-Index closed down 115 points (-6.51%) at 1,652, while market liquidity remained elevated at USD 1.58 bn on HoSE. There are still a huge amount of shares that are queuing to sell at limit down price. This indicate further margin unwinding burden tomorrow.

o       Within the VN30 basket, 25 stocks closed at limit down price. Some notable rebounds occurred late in the session. VJC was sharply pulled up during the ATC auction, narrowing its decline to -2.17%, equivalent to a 5.15% rebound from its intraday low. STB recovered about 2.36% from its bottom, closing -4.7%, while DGC rebounded 1.43%, finishing the day -2.87%.

o       Foreign investors became a relative bright spot in the afternoon session, turning to net buying of USD 13.8 mn, which reduced their total net sell value1 to USD 13.4 mn. Strong net buying was concentrated in MWG (+USD 5.3 mn), VNM (+USD 4.6 mn), and BSR (+USD 3.9 mn). Meanwhile, the largest net selling was seen in VHM (-USD 6.8 mn), FPT (-USD 6.2 mn), and STB (-USD 6.1 mn).

o       Sector performance: All sectors declined during the session. High-beta sectors broadly hit their floor limits (-6% to -7%) amid the market-wide sell-off. Energy proved relatively resilient, falling -5.3%, supported by BSR, which declined only -2.56%. Health Care recorded the mildest decline in the market, down -2.4%.

o       As of the market close, Vietnam’s stock market (-6.5%) recorded the steepest decline across Asia. This was followed by South Korea’s KOSPI, which fell 5.96%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declining 5.2%, and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index dropping 3.27%. The remainder of Asian equity markets also ended the session in negative territory.