HANOI: Vietnam’s stock market unexpectedly plummeted on Monday amid growing anxiety over volatility in both domestic and international markets.

The market capitalisation on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange shrank by 244 trillion dong (about US$10bil) to reach nearly five quadrillion dong in market cap as the benchmark VN-Index lost almost 60 points, or 4.7%, to close at 1,216 points.

This marked the sharpest decline in nearly two years since May 12, 2022.

At the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also dropped by 4.8% to end the day at 229.71 points.

Market conditions were pessimistic with 647 stocks sinking, 157 of which hit trading limits, while only 75 rose.

Liquidity grew significantly with trading volume reaching over one billion shares worth 24 trillion dong on the Ho Chi Minh City exchange while the numbers in Hanoi’s market were 164 million shares and 3.5 trillion dong.

According to Nguyen The Minh, director of Yuanta Vietnam Securities Co’s analysis department, the risk of a decline appeared at the beginning of April, but the big shock on Monday caught investors by surprise.

Minh noted that the Israel-Iran conflict had global repercussions, impacting the Vietnamese stock market.

 - ANN