The market fell on Tuesday morning, weighed by losses in many large-cap stocks. However, the downtrend was limited by gains in energy stocks.
The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) continued its current tendency, and ended the morning trade at 1,170.81 points, a decline of 5.68 points, or 0.48 per cent.
The market's breadth was negative with 336 stocks decreasing, while 112 stocks increased.
Liquidity kept dropping, with the value on the southern bourse reducing by 2.7 per cent to more than VND5.2 trillion (US$223,8 million), equal to a matching volume of 273 million shares.
Foreign investors remained net sellers on HoSE this morning. They net sold nearly VND109.7 billion.
Losses of many large-cap stocks were attributed to the benchmark's bearish trend. The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, plunged 7.89 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 1,206.39 points.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also edged lower to 281.59 points, a fall of 3.04 points, or 1.07 per cent.
Data compiled by financial website vietstock showed that Hoa Phat Group (HPG) reported the biggest loss this morning, down 1.77 per cent.
Other pillar stocks weighing on the market were Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Masan Group (MSN) and Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), all down at least 1.17 per cent.
The financial sector also faced a sell-off in the morning trade, with BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), MBBank (MBB), Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), VNDirect Securities Corporation (VND) and SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) all losing more than 1 per cent.
Losses, however, were capped by gains in some stocks, especially the energy sector thanks to positive signs in oil prices in the international market.
PV Gas (GAS) led the market's bullish side, up nearly 2.8 per cent. Petrolimex (PLX) and PV Power (POW) also rose by at least 1.8 per cent. VNS