Shares underperformed on Tuesday morning as blue chips lost ground on poor investor confidence following the market’s current volatility.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange fell by 2.67 per cent to close at 960.94 points. It had dropped 2.87 per cent on Monday.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange lost 3.31 per cent to close at 109.30 points. It had decreased by 2.46 per cent the previous day.

Liquidity remained low, with nearly 139 million shares worth VND3.3 trillion (US$144 million) being traded on the two local exchanges.

Declining stocks dominated the two indices, with losers outnumbering gainers 355 to 68, indicating a negative market breadth.

All 20 sectors of the stock market, including banking-finance, property development, construction material and food and beverages, continued to underperform.

Large-cap stocks were on the negative side as 27 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation declined, pulling the VN30 Index down by 2.73 per cent to 943.90 points.

Among the declining stocks were Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID), Vietcombank (VCB), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), budget carrier Vietjet (VJC), real estate firm Novaland (NVL) and steel producer Hoa Phat (HPG).

Last Thursday, the Fed raised its interest rates to a range of 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent and promised two more rate increases in 2018. The decision resulted in worldwide withdrawal of foreign capital from emerging and frontier markets.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. – VNS