Vietnamese shares saw downward correction on Wednesday morning, due to investors’ profit-taking efforts, from the market’s previous strong gains made in the last three trading sessions.

The benchmark VN Index on HCM Stock Exchange slipped down by 0.51 per cent to close at 1,068.02 points, reversing from its three-day gain of 4.3 per cent.

The HNX Index on Hà Nội Stock Exchange lost 0.59 per cent to end at 122.93 points. It had gained 2.2 per cent in the last three sessions.

Some 100.7 million shares, worth VND2.2 trillion (US$96.4 million), were traded on the two local exchanges.

The market breadth was negative, with 246 declining stocks against 154 gaining stocks.

Insurance and banking sectors were the most affected on the local stock markets on Wednesday morning. The two sector’s indices were down by 2.3 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.

Among insurance companies, PVI Holdings slipped down by 1.4 per cent and Bao Viet Holdings gained 2.7 per cent. Vietcombank, VPBank and Vietinbank, among others, lost at least one per cent.

Meanwhile, the energy industry was boosted by a positive trading of crude. Since the beginning of May, Brent crude has increased by 4.1 per cent to trade at $78.3 per barrel.

Local large-cap energy stocks advanced between 1.2 per cent and 4.4 per cent following the news.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. – VNS