The market was mixed on Monday morning, with the VN-Index down slightly, as profit-taking activities weighed on investor sentiment.
On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the benchmark VN-Index dropped 7.15 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 1,791.74 points.
The market's breadth was negative, while liquidity remained at a high level with nearly 415.8 million shares traded on the southern bourse, worth over VND13.3 trillion (US$583.1 million).
Meanwhile, foreign investors net sold a value of over VND230 billion on the market during the morning session.
The benchmark's downtrend was mainly driven by a rising selling force, mostly in the banking and real estate sectors.
Of which Vingroup (VIC) fell the most in the morning trade, down 2.4 per cent. It was followed by BIDV (BID), Vietjet Aviation JSC (VJC), Vinhomes (VHM) and Vietinbank (CTG), which all declined by 0.77 - 1.35 per cent.
Other big stocks weighing on the index were Vietcombank (VCB), Novaland (NVL), Becamex (BCM), Vinamilk (VNM), Sabeco (SAB) and VP Bank (VPB).
The loss was capped by gains in steel and energy stocks. PV Gas (GAS) led the uptrend, up 1.11 per cent, followed by Hoa Phat Group (HPG), up 1.09 per cent.
Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Nam Kim Group (NKG), Petrovietnam Fertilizer & Chemicals Corporation (DPM) and Petrolimex (PLX) also helped to cushion the fall.
However, on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index rose 0.49 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 440.65 points. VNS