The VN-Index has officially fallen below the 1,700-point threshold, marking its lowest level in nearly four months. This decline comes amidst a wave of selling pressure that has gripped the Vietnamese stock market, pushing the index down significantly during trading on July 22, 2026.

As the market opened, a cautious sentiment quickly escalated into a full-blown sell-off, with many investors opting to reduce their stock holdings to mitigate risks. This was largely in response to ongoing pressures from margin calls and a lack of signs indicating a decrease in selling activity. Within the first hour of trading, the VN-Index experienced a drop of more than 32 points.

By 11 AM, the VN-Index had decreased by 31.04 points (-1.7%), settling at 1,699.52 points. This decline was mirrored on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, where the HNX-Index fell by 2.46 points (-0.9%) to 278.28 points, and the UPCoM-Index dropped by 0.51 points (-0.4%) to 124.89 points. Despite the negative trends, trading volume remained high, with total transactions across the three exchanges exceeding 9 trillion VND, an increase of about 40% compared to the previous session.

The market breadth was heavily negative, with 424 stocks declining (including 13 hitting the floor price), 940 maintaining their reference price, and only 187 stocks rising (including 11 hitting the ceiling price). The VN30 basket was particularly pressured, recording 21 stocks that fell, while only 6 rose and 3 remained unchanged.

The decline in the VN-Index was primarily driven by large-cap stocks, including VIC (-2%), VHM (-4.6%), VCB (-1.4%), and others. Notably, the stock of PNJ (Phu Nhuan Jewelry) continued to face selling pressure, trading at 35,500 VND per share, which erased all gains accumulated over the past five years and marked its lowest price since early 2021.

Phan Quoc Cong, the CEO of PNJ, acknowledged the prevailing market anxiety but noted that there had not been significant changes among institutional shareholders. Foreign investors currently hold about 49% of the company's equity, with some domestic funds backed by foreign capital also retaining shares, indicating a higher actual foreign ownership percentage.

While a few stocks managed to maintain positive performance, such as VNM (+2.1%) and FPT (+1.7%), their limited market capitalization and gains were insufficient to offset the widespread selling pressure, leading the VN-Index to remain deeply in the red.