Shares edged down on the two stock exchanges on Friday morning as several blue chips experienced downward movement. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Shares edged down on the two stock exchanges on Friday morning as several blue chips experienced downward movement.

The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange was down 0.22 per cent at 720.45 points while the HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange inched down 0.1 per cent to 89.44 points.

Twenty-eight of the 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the main bourse in HCM City lost value while only eight advanced.

Banks and securities firms, which had risen in the previous two sessions, declined this morning.

PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service (PVD) recovered following four sessions of losses, trading at some VND15,850 (US$0.70) per share.

Hoa Sen Group (HSG) rose for a second day, up 2.5 per cent at VND49,800 per share after the steelmaking company announced dividend rate at 50 per cent along with bonus shares at the rate of 20 per cent.

A total of 131.6 million shares worth VND2.15 trillion ($94.6 million) were traded on the two markets.

Afternoon trade starts at 1pm. — VNS