Shares on the two national stock exchanges inched down on Thursday morning following losses in bank and steel stocks. – Photo danviet.vn

Shares on the two national stock exchanges inched down on Thursday morning following losses in bank and steel stocks.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index closed down marginally at 687 points. The gauge increased 0.9 per cent on Wednesday.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was down 0.04 per cent at 83.5 points. The northern market index has increased by 2.7 per cent since January 5.

Bank stocks were on the defensive side this morning following a brief rise on Wednesday.

Four of nine listed lenders on the two bourses declined. These were Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Eximbank (EIB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Nam Viet Bank (NVB), with losses of between 0.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent each.

Three banks -- Sacombank (STB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Military Bank (MBB) -- advanced slightly by 0.2-0.9 per cent each. The other two closed flat.

Steel shares also slumped. The two largest steelmakers, Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG), were down 0.6 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

Overall market condition was negative with 192 stocks declining, 158 advancing and 349 closing unchanged. A total of over 77 million shares worth a combined VND1.3 trillion (US$57.5 million) were traded on the two markets.

The afternoon session starts at 1pm. – VNS