Shares declined for the third straight session on Friday morning as worries about the COVID-19 pandemic cast a shadow over the stock market. -- Photo cafef.vn

Shares declined for the third straight session on Friday morning as worries about the COVID-19 pandemic cast a shadow over the stock market.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index lost 4.33 per cent to end the morning trade at 735.93 points.

The index had plunged 5.66 per cent to end at 765.45 points on Thursday.

A total of 210 million shares worth VNĐ3.3 trillion ($142 million) were traded on the southern market.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index – the main driving factor of the stock market – dropped 4.27 per cent to close at 688.51 points.

In the VN30 basket, 28 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity declined while none increased. Two stayed unchanged.

Among the worst-performing large-caps were Mobile World Group (MWG), National Petroleum Group (PLX), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Phu Nhuan Jewellery (PNJ), HDBank (HDB), FPT Retail (FRT), and PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS).

On a sector basis, all 25 sectors across the market lost ground.

Dragging the market were energy, agriculture, wholesale, real estate, rubber production, logistics, construction, insurance, technology, retail, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, banking and finance, seafood processing, and food and beverage stocks.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 3.42 per cent to close Friday morning at 98.43 points.

The index had decreased 0.64 per cent to end Thursday at 105.52 points. — VNS