Shares were on the defensive on Tuesday as investors offloaded large-cap stocks and channeled money into small and penny stocks on expectations of higher returns.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange retreated 0.93 per cent to close at 710.8 points. On Monday, the southern index edged up 0.42 per cent.

Twenty four of the 30 largest shares by market capitalisation and liquidity slumped, while only three advanced.

Financials and property stocks, which have climbed substantially in the past rallies, were under the biggest selling pressure. They included Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), Military Bank (MBB), private equity firm Masan Group (MSN), property developer VinGroup (VIC), Kinh Bac City Development (KBC).

Some cheap stocks continued their growth, such as FLC Group (FLC), Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG), Tan Tao Investment Industry Corp (ITA) and Eximbank (EIB).

“After several failures to break the threshold of 720 points, investors turned their attention to small- and medium-cap stocks to seek higher returns,” said Bui Nguyen Khoa, a stock analyst at BIDV Securities Co. Khoa said the market experienced a wide divergence as money flowed into different stock groups.

Sugar shares were sweet yesterday with most advancing. Bien Hoa Sugar (BHN) climbed 6.8 per cent, while others Son La Sugar (SLS), Lam Son Sugar (LSS), Safoco Foodstuff (SAF) increased between 1 per cent and 3.5 per cent.

Liquidity remained high with over 192 million shares worth VND3.3 trillion (US$144.7 million) traded in the southern market.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched down 0.04 per cent to end at the day-low at 86.8 points.

Trading volume decreased over 8 per cent here, totaling over 56 million shares, but value increased 4.6 per cent to reach VND477.5 billion.

Two firms made debuts on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) yesterday, including Sai Gon–Quang Ngai Beer (BSQ) and EVN International (EIC).

The beer company floated 45 million shares on the UPCoM. This is a subsidiary of southern brewery Sabeco (SAB) which is trading on the HCM Stock Exchange. The share rose by the maximum 40 per cent on its first trading day at VND31,600 a share.

EVN International (EIC) listed 36.7 million shares, which hit the daily limit rise of 40 per cent at VND14,700 a share.

Foreign investors returned as net buyers yesterday, with a net value of VND30 billion after offloading net sell value of VND62 billion on Monday. – VNS