Both national stock exchanges saw shares tumbling on February 20 against intense selling pressure, but liquidity set an all-time record high.

The trading value on both bourses totalled nearly 5.5 trillion VND (262 million USD) – a record high – after five trading sessions each having a value above 3 trillion VND (142 million USD) on the exchange of 400 million shares in total.

However, the red colour spread across the billboards and even blue chips suffered. On the Ho Chi Minh City Exchange, the VN-Index on the southern bourse slid 1.22 percent to end at 571.04 points.

According to FPT Securities, the 580-point level indicated strong resistance, and the benchmark index experienced deep losses before approaching this level.

Transactions were exciting during the trading session, where just shy of 260 million shares changed hands, with a total trading value of 4 trillion VND (190.5 million USD).

However, selling pressure overwhelmed buying demand, causing 241 codes to lose value, while only 49 codes managed to increase.

Tracking the southern city's largest shares by capitalisation and liquidity, the VN30-Index lost 11.73 points on February 20 to end at 638.7 points, due to huge losses from 24 codes.

Ocean Group (OCG) slipped by 800 VND (0.038 USD) to its floor price of 12,000 VND (0.57 USD), while PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation (PVT) also dropped to its floor price of 13,400 VND (0.63 USD) after a loss of 1,000 VND (0.047 USD) per share.

PetroVietnam Drilling (PVD) slid 5,000 VND (0.23 USD) per share on February 20 to 75,500 VND (3.5 USD).

Big names that posted losses of more than 1,000 VND (0.047 USD) per share each on February 20 included insurance giant Bao Viet Group (BVH), FPT Group (FPT), Southern Rubber Corporation (CSM) and Da Nang Rubber Corporation (DRC). PetroVietnam Fertilisers and Chemicals Corporation (DPM), Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) were also counted in this group.

Only Masan Group (MSN), Eximbank (EIB) and Vietinbank (CTG) managed to add value on February 20.

Sell-offs also dragged down the benchmark indices on the Hanoi Exchange.

The HNX-Index closed 3.42 percent lower to end at 79.51 points, and the HNXFF-Index, composed of stocks with a minimum free-float rate of 5 percent, lost 3.51 percent to reach 78.65 points.

Blue chips suffered huge losses, making the HNX30-Index tumble 4.9 percent to end at 158.62 points on February 20.

The bourse's liquidity was high, however, with a trading value of 1.44 trillion VND (68.5 million USD) on the exchange of more than 148.7 million shares.

In the capital city, decliners overwhelmed gainers by 205-66.

FPT Securities noted that there was no information strong enough to directly cause such losses on February 20.

Still, the company was optimistic about the market recovery given the net buying activity of foreign investors.-VNA