Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue. World stock markets fell sharply in response to information that the FED kept interest rates unchanged and inflationary pressure began to increase.
With the Vietnamese stock market, when uncertainties continue, they may begin to directly affect businesses, the economy and thereby create great pressure on the stock market.
This strongly impacted investor sentiment. Right from the time the stock market opened for trading in the morning session of March 20, the red color quickly expanded on the electronic board, but the pressure of low price supply was not too great. However, the difference is that VN-Index decreased quite sharply, losing more than 20 points after more than 1 hour of trading because large stocks had a larger decrease range.
Closing the session on March 20, VN-Index decreased by 51.32 points, equivalent to 3%, to 1,647.8 points. HoSE's electronic board recorded 95 gainers compared to 241 losers, including 10 floor decliners.
Not only domestic investors, foreign investors also expressed anxiety when net selling nearly VND 1,900 billion on the HoSE exchange. In today's session, there were 10 codes that were net sold by foreign investors for more than VND 100 billion, of which HPG was the leading code in the list of being net sold with VND 667 billion.
In today's trading session, the oil and gas stock group, which is forecast to benefit from world oil prices, continued to be heavily sold and is also the industry group that "contributed" the most to the list of floor-dropping codes with 4 codes PET, PLX, PVD and GAS. In the list of "floating" codes, there is giant VIC. Because it is the code with the largest market capitalization, VIC's 7% decrease caused the index to lose 15.3 points.
The energy sector is the group with the strongest decrease in the market with 5.21% mainly from stocks such as BSR (-4.27%), PLX (-6.96%), PVT (-6.65%), OIL (-8.05%), PVS (-6.76%) and PVD (-6.93%). Followed by the real estate sector and the raw material sector with decreases of 4.46% and 2.89% respectively.
Also in today's trading session, the market witnessed an unsuccessful "rescue" for DGC shares. After 3 consecutive floor-dropping sessions, with no buyers, strong demand appeared at DGC (Duc Giang Chemical Group Joint Stock Company) in the morning session of March 20, with a trading volume of tens of millions of shares. However, the selling force at the end of the session pushed the price of chemical giant shares back to the floor level.
At the end of the session, DGC shares continued to have their 4th consecutive floor-dropping session, stopping at the price of 55,500 VND/share. The only positive point is liquidity, with a matched order volume of nearly 35 million shares.
Demand at DGC appeared after information that the enterprise convened an extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders in 2026 to consolidate the management apparatus. Previously, Chairman of the Board of Directors Dao Huu Huyen and his son Dao Huu Duy Anh (Vice Chairman) and Board Member Pham Van Hung were prosecuted and temporarily detained, related to many violations occurring at DGC, which are environmental violations, illegal mining, and serious violations of accounting regulations.
Talking to reporters, financial expert Dr. Nguyen Duy Phuong, Investment Director of DG Capital, said that when savings interest rates are high, bank deposits can also bring attractive profits. Therefore, investors will carefully consider between investment channels based on profit and risk levels. If interest rates continue to rise, cash flow is likely to prioritize channels with stable profits and lower risks.
The economy is in a "stretched" liquidity situation. In recent years, the rate of capital mobilization of the banking system has not kept up with the rate of credit growth. When credit capital is considered the "blood vessel" of the economy is tightened, the flow of money into risky assets such as securities will also be narrowed. This is a barrier preventing the stock market from having a strong increase in the short term," Dr. Phuong stated his opinion.
