Local exchanges ended down in the early session as investors remained cautious following recent declines. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese shares ended lower in the early session, while trading liquidity remained low.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange and the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange fell 0.2 per cent each to close at 655.60 points and 83.34 points, respectively.

Trading liquidity remained low as investors maintained their cautiousness following a slowdown of the stock market.

Both local exchanges saw more than 86.6 million shares being traded, worth VND1.36 trillion (US$60.4 million).

Banks, energy firms and food and beverage producers weighed on the market in the early session.

Among banks, Vietcombank (VCB) and BIDV (BID) dropped 0.9 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively, while most of the other bank stocks remained flat.

Large-cap energy stocks such as PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Service Corp (PVD), PetroVietnam Technical Service Corp (PVS) and PetroVietnam Mud Drilling Corp (PVC) closed down.

Viet Nam Dairy Products JSC (VNM) and consumer goods producer Masan Group (MSN) were down 0.6 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.

However, securities firms remained positive. HCM City Securities Corp (HCM), VNDirect Securities Corp (VND) and Bao Viet Securities Corp (BVS) rose between 0.8 per cent and 1.6 per cent. — VNS