An investor tracks the movement of stocks on his laptop. Vietnamese shares fell on Friday morning as investors were kept worrying about the slowdown of the economy. - Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Vietnamese shares dipped on Friday morning as overall sentiment worsened following the decline in global markets.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange fell 1.09 per cent to end at 883.60 points.

The VN-Index gained 0.44 per cent on Thursday.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange dropped 1.04 per cent to close at 113.83 points.

The northern market index had increased by a total of 7.9 per cent in the last week.

More than 145.3 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VND2.24 trillion (US$97 million).

Of the total, nearly 117 million shares were transferred via matched orders, worth VND1.74 trillion.

The market sentiment turned bad after the global markets were shaken by fears about the rising coronavirus death toll and worries about a slowing global economy.

The market breadth was negative on the two bourses with nearly 300 declining stocks while 150 stocks increased.

The worst-performing sectors included retail, real estate, mining and energy, securities, construction, and technology.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index slipped 1.21 per cent in the morning session with 24 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the basket falling.

Mid-cap and small-cap indices also declined.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. – VNS