Shares ended flat on Monday morning as investors were preservative and inactive on the stock market during the year-end period. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Shares closed on Monday morning slightly up with moderate liquidity, as large-cap stocks and investors tended to preserve their accounts instead of participating in trading.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange and the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange changed little compared with their closing levels on Friday.

The VN Index ended this morning at 664.73 points and the HNX Index stood at 79.12 points.

Weak sentiment was seen as the most influential factor that keep markets quiet, as domestic investors tended to preserve their money while foreign investors halted trading during the year-end holiday.

More than 68.6 million shares were exchanged on the two local exchanges this morning, worth nearly VND1.4 trillion (US$61.65 million).

Weak sentiment kept large-cap stocks mixed, with private equity firm Masan Group (MSN) and Vietcombank (VCB) gaining, while dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM) declined.

Instead of focusing on large-cap stocks, money flow turned towards seeking opportunities in specific sectors and industries, including steel production.

The steel industry was driven up by Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Vietnam-Italy Steel JSC (VIS).

HPG and HSG were also among the top three active stocks, with nearly 2.4 million and 1.5 million shares being traded, respectively. HPG gained two per cent and HSG edged up 0.6 per cent. — VNS