Local market slid further in the early session after crude prices ran into profit taking and drove energy stocks down. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese shares fell further in the early session, as oil stocks suffered from lower crude prices.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange ended almost flat at 657.62 points, and the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange inched down 0.2 per cent to close at 82.50 points.

The decline of the stock market in the early session was driven by oil shares, as crude prices ran into profit-taking activity on Monday.

The United States crude closed down three per cent to touch US$47.05 a barrel, from a seven-day rally of 16.3 per cent since August 10.

PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS) lost 2.3 per cent, PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Service Corp (PVD) slipped three per cent and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp (PVS) dropped 1.8 per cent.

Banks remained flat on concerns over the sector's bad debt ratio, which has undermined bank stocks' performance since the beginning of the year.

Large-cap stocks such as consumer goods producer Masan Group (MSN) and Bao Minh Insurance Corp (BMI) continued to be under pressure from investors' selling for short-term profits.

Weak investor sentiment resulted in low trading liquidity, with nearly 70 million shares worth VND1.2 trillion ($54.3 million) being exchanged.

The afternoon trading session will start at 1pm. — VNS