August 9th: VNIndex reached its lowest in nearly two years

By Minh An - Aug 10, 2017 | 04:05 PM GMT+7

TheLEADERRumours of BIDV former President’s arrest was priced at the deep slump of Vietnam stock market on August 9th, which was a fall at the sharpest rate in nearly two years.

August 9th: VNIndex reached its lowest in nearly two years
The red colour also covered all banking shares on the electronic board at the end of Aug 9th. Photo: Internet

Vietnam stock market had a plunging session yesterday as the bank stocks dramatically lost points, most of which were large cap ones on HOSE and HNX.

At the end of the session, the VNIndex lost 18 points (2.26%), dropping to 773. A stronger decline of this index was more than a year ago – since January 2016 (decreasing by 3%). On the Hanoi bourse, the HNXIndex slightly lost 1.2 points (1.2%), dropping to 101.

A rumour related to a Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) former executive Tran Bac Ha which had appeared late the night before has caused the bank shares to go through the floor yesterday. BID share price decreased by VND2,200 apiece to VND20,400 (US$0.9). At the end of the Aug 9thsession, a large BID sell-off remained on the electronic board as no one wanted to buy them.

Yesterday is also the ex-dividend date, which means BIDV's shareholders were paid a dividend of VND700 (roughly US$0.03). According to regulations, when the market opened, the stock price was adjusted to decrease US$0.03 apiece.

The red colour also covered all banking shares on the electronic board at the end of Aug 9th. It is estimated that this decline took more than VND15 trillion (about US$661 million) from the capitalization of listed banks in the Aug 9th trading session.

Since the beginning of 2017, banking stocks have been the driving force of the market which helps increase stock indexes and puts VNIndex on the peak of nine years. The ACB, CTG, BID codes have increased by over 30%, even MBB has increased by over 60%.

This upward trend has affected unlisted banks. Ho Chi Minh City Securities Company predicts a wave of listing bank shares in the next one or two years. In a week (August 17th), VPBank will come on bourse at VND39,000 (roughly US$1.72) per share.