Shares were mixed on Tuesday on the two stock exchanges as traders shifted investments to small- and medium-cap stocks.
The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange was down 0.43 per cent to close at 775.54 points. The key gauge ticked up 0.3 per cent on Monday.
Large-cap stocks slumped with the VN30 tracking the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity being down 0.25 per cent at 763.92 points.
Banks and energy firms led the downturn.
All six listed lenders on the HCM City’s bourse lost value of between 0.5-2.9 per cent. The three biggest listed banks – Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG) and BIDV (BID) – decreased 0.5 per cent, 1.5 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively.
In the energy sector, PV Gas (GAS) and Petrolimex (PLX), the two largest listed firms by market value, sank 1.74 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.
GAS increased 4 per cent in the last two trades while PLX extended losses to three consecutive sessions.
Global oil prices have maintained an uptrend in recent trades. Brent crude futures rose 1.9 per cent on Monday after posting a weekly gain of 5.2 per cent last week. Meanwhile, US crude futures closed up 2.2 per cent to reach nearly one-month high.
Other losers included dairy giant Vinamilk (VNM), real estate developer VinGroup (VIC), private equity firm Masan Group (MSN), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and DHG Pharmaceutical (DHG).
“Short-term profit selling occurred in the banking sector and in a number of large-cap stocks which have gained substantially in the previous rallies and that put heavy pressure on the market,” stock analysts at BIDV Securities Co wrote in a note.
The VN-Index expanded 1 per cent last week and has gained 5.2 per cent in June.
They noted investments tended to shift to small- and medium-cap stocks and the ones with solid backgrounds and in the low price range.
Gainers yesterday included Ocean Group (OGC), Tan Tao Investment and Industry (ITA), Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate (HQC), Duc Long Gia Lai Group (DLG) and HAI Agrochem (HAI). They were the most active stocks on the HCM Stock Exchange with 6-23 million shares traded in each code.
On the Ha Noi exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.15 per cent to end at 100.48 points. The northern market index increased 1.2 per cent in the last session.
A total of 299.3 million shares worth a combined VND4.14 trillion (US$182.4 million) were traded in the two exchanges, up 12.8 per cent in volume but down 10 per cent in value compared with Monday’s numbers.
Foreign investors decreased their buys in the two markets, picking up shares worth a total net buy value of VND37 billion on the two exchanges, down 65 per cent in value from the previous session. – VNS