Shares fell deeply on Monday morning, with the market benchmark VN-Index extending last week's big losses.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index lost 19.53 points, or 1.32 per cent, to 1,462.47 points.

The market breadth was negative with only 62 stocks increasing, while 405 stocks declined. Liquidity, however, improved on the last trading session. Data showed that 381.6 million shares were traded on HoSE, worth nearly VND11.64 trillion (US$508.8 million).

The index's downtrend was mainly driven by strong sell-off activities, with many large-cap stocks hit hard. The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, posted a decline of 13.4 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 1,510.19 points.

Of the VN30 basket, 26 stocks decreased, while three rose and one ended flat.

Leading the downtrend was Vinhomes (VHM) with a fall of nearly 2.3 per cent. It was followed by BIDV (BID), PV Gas (GAS), Vietcombank (VCB), Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Vingroup (VIC). The stocks all reported losses of at least 1.22 per cent.

Adding pressure on the benchmark, foreign investors net sold a value of around VND350 billion on the southern market.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index slid by 7.47 points, or 1.73 per cent, to 424.55 points. VNS