Daily Market Watch 24/03/2026: Equities Rebounds Strongly On Temporary De-Escalation in Iran

MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

o       Headlines-driven volatility dominated global markets. Reports that U.S president Trump announced a 5-day delay in military strikes targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure initially triggered a sharp reaction. WTI crude fell more than 10% and world equities rebounded strongly as concerns over the Iran war temporarily faded. However, Iran quickly denied the claims, while airstrikes in the Middle East continued, causing U.S. markets to pare gains but still close in positive territory. Asian equities also opened higher, up 1–3% this morning.

o       Vietnam equities staged a strong rebound at the open. The VN-Index surged nearly 40 points in the morning session as easing oil prices helped improve sentiment. Retail investor returned to buy after several days of panic sell and supported strong gains across the board, especially in mid-cap stocks. The VNMID Index rose over 3% intraday. Real estate names rebounded sharply after a steep correction of over 30%, with multiple stocks hitting limit-up, including TCH, NVL, CII, and NLG, alongside a notable surge in trading volume. Market breadth was robust, with over 149 stocks gaining more than 2%, accounting for 67.5% of total trading value on HoSE. The VN-Index closed the morning session up 1.98%.

o       Despite the strong rebound, liquidity remained subdued, reflecting continued investor caution amid uncertain geopolitical developments and tightening domestic macro conditions. Key liquidity pressures include: (i) possible quarter-end liquidity management by banks which may cause some fluctuations; (ii) OMO maturities ahead. The SBV have net withdrawn USD 10bn since March 4; (iii) maturing Vietnam State Treasury deposits; and (iv) FX intervention bu the State Bank via 180-day forward USD sales, which absorbs VND liquidity. Meanwhile, the USD black-market rate rose to VND 27,980/USD, widening gap with interbank rate to 6.2%, while the central rate increased by VND 19 DoD and marked the largest adjustment year-to-date. State-owned banks raised 12M/24M deposit rates by 70bps/120bps to 5.9%/6.5%, respectively - the second hike since the 2025 trough.

o       Selling pressure intensified in the afternoon, leading to a broad-based pullback. Blue-chip stocks weakened notably, particularly large caps such as VIC, which saw heavy selling and doubled liquidity compared to the morning, closing down 1.27% (vs. -3.73% from its intraday high). Other VN30 names including STB, SSI, HDB, and GVR also declined by more than 1% from morning levels. As a result, the VN30-Index trimmed gains to +1.67% (vs. +1.98% in the morning). Meanwhile, mid- and small-cap stocks remained resilient, with Midcap up 2.8% and Smallcap up 2.15%.

o       The VN-Index closed up 1.5%. Market breadth was quite positive (273 advancers vs. 59 decliners), including 14 limit-up stocks. However, liquidity dropped sharply to USD 787 mn on HoSE (-30% DoD), indicating cautious participation of retail investors. They were waiting for the market to form a clear bottom in order to jump in.

o       Foreign investors extended their net selling streak to the 9th consecutive session, with net outflows of USD 20 mn on HoSE. Selling pressure was concentrated in VIC (-USD 5.7 mn), MWG (-USD 5.7 mn), and VHM (-USD 5.3 mn).