Vietnamese stocks snapped a three-day winning streak on Friday, facing strong selling from investors, as they sought profits from those firms that made significant gains during the last sessions.
On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the market benchmark VN-Index lost 0.30 per cent to end at 1,463.54 points.
The index had gained 3.8 per cent in the last three sessions.
The market's breadth was negative with 169 gainers and 275 losers.
As many as 798.3 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth nearly VND23 trillion (US$1 billion).
The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, declined 0.66 per cent, to end at 1,519.46 points. Twenty out of 30 stocks in the VN30 basket posted losses, while 10 increased.
After the lunch break, the market moved in a negative direction with a series of stocks in the VN30 "basket" plunging, of which the stock with the largest capitalisation stock on the market Vingroup (VIC) decreased by 2 per cent, Phu Nhuan Jewelry (PNJ) decreased by 1.8 per cent, PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) lost by 1.6 per cent, Vietnam National Petroleum Group (PLX) was down 1.3 per cent, Vinamilk (VNM) was down 1 per cent, and Masan Group (MSN) declined 1.1 per cent.
The banking group performed well and supported the market with notable gainers including Tien Phong Bank (TPB), Vietcombank (VCB), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) and ViBank (VIB).
Seafood stocks went against the general market when the industry's index closed up 1.96 per cent. In which, the Bac Lieu Fisheries Joint Stock Company (BLF) hit the daily limit gain of 10 per cent. I.D.I International Development & Investment Corporation (IDI) soared 5 per cent, Vinh Hoan Corporation (VHC) gained more than 3 per cent. Kien Hung JSC (KHS), Cuu Long Fish Joint Stock Company (ACL) and Sao Ta Foods Joint Stock Company (FMC) were the remaining gainers in the industry.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index lost 0.39 per cent, to 450.75 points.
During the session, investors poured over VND2.7 trillion into the market, equivalent to a trading volume of 103.3 million shares. — VNS