A substantial decline by blue chips weighed on the HCM City Stock Market on Thursday morning, making the benchmark VN Index lose its positive momentum.

The VN Index on HCM Stock Exchange lost 0.63 per cent to close at 1.130,91 points after a three-session rise of 1.31 per cent.

Meanwhile, the minor HNX Index on Ha Noi Stock Exchange kept its growth momentum, gaining 0.1 per cent to end at 130.56 points, expanding its four-day rally to 2.12 per cent.

More than 169.58 million shares, worth VND3.9 trillion, were traded on the two local bourses.

The market breadth was negative with 175 gaining shares, 228 declining ones and 327 stocks ending flat.

Large-cap stocks underperformed, as 20 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 Index suffered, pulling the large-cap index down 0.71 per cent to 1.107,03 points.

The laggards in the VN30 basket included property developer Vingroup, brewer Sabeco and dairy firm Vinamilk.

A huge selling pressure hit banking and oil stocks, pushing down the market. Decliners included Vietcombank, Vietinbank, VPBank PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation and PetroVietnam Gas Corporation.

The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market gained 0.56 per cent to stand at 61.64 points. It had gained 0.06 per cent on Wednesday.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS