Shares lost ground on Friday morning as large-cap stocks slipped. Energy stocks were among the biggest losers despite positive prospects of the oil industry after the agreement on production cut.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched down 0.3 per cent to 664.5 points, erasing Thursday’s gain of 0.2 per cent. On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index closed nearly unchanged at 81.5 points. It had risen 1.1 per cent in the previous session.

After Thursday’s momentum, oil and gas stocks such as PetroVietnam Coating (PVB), PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) and PetroVietnam Drilling Mud (PVC) all slipped, while the largest oil stock PV Gas (GAS) closed flat. PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service (PVD) and Petroleum Equipment Assembly & Metal Structure (PXS) gained marginally.

Other blue chips were also on the defensive and losers include Vinamilk (VNM), real estate developer VinGroup (VIC), Blender IDV (BID), Vietcombank (VCB), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Masan Group (MSN) and Saigon Securities Inc (SSI).

Around 11 million SSI shares, equivalent to nearly 2.3 per cent of SSI’s capital, were exchanged this morning via negotiation at the price of VNĐ20,030 per share. This is equivalent to the amount of shares that Daiwa Securities Group has registered to buy between December 2 and 30 through negotiated trade.

A total of around 101 million shares worth VND1.7 trillion (US$75 million) were traded in the two markets.

The afternoon trade starts at 1pm. — VNS