Daily Market Watch 18/08/2025: The Index Managed to Rise Despite Intraday Volatilities

MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

o       The equity market opened the week in a hesitation mode. Investors were concerning as momentum seemed to slow down and many stocks started adjustment from their peak prices earlier last week. A. number of small/mid-cap stocks faced notable selling pressures of retail investors and retreated.

o       The VN-Index hovered up and down the reference line throughout the day. It fell briefly in the ealy afternoon as retail investors rushed on selling to lock in profit and avoid a possible sudden correction. However, sentiment improved at the end of the sessions as several stocks managed to post nice gains and lifted confidence across the board.

o       The market closed the day more positively. The VN-Index gained 0.39% while the VN30 Index (+0.17%) hiked modestly. Market breadth was improved with 450 advancers vs 368 decliners combined

o       Liquidity went down, the ADTV saw 24% DoD decrease to USD1.74bn. Investors were hesitated in most of the trading day and only turned more active in the last 30 minutes. That explained lower liquidity. Foreign investors continued dumping Vietnamese equities. They net sold over USD79m today, focusing on SHB (-USD10.2m), VPB (-USD7.3m), and FPT (-USD6.3m). On the other side, GMD (+USD6.0m), VCB (+USD4.7m), and PDR (+USD 4.3m) were bought in. Foreign players  have been net sellers in 9/10 last trading days.

o       We noticed that premium in FOL stocks dropped quickly recently due to consistent selling overhang. TCB premium declined to ~5%, MBB even saw direct sell in the market (0% premium). ACB and HDB. managed to maintain ~3% premium. Demand is soft though.