Vietnamese shares struggled on Friday as large-caps stocks simultaneously dropped, putting negative pressure on the market.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange lost 1.1 per cent to end the trading session at 1,101.68 points.

More than 1 billion shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ20.8 trillion (US$855.3 million).

Market breadth was neutral, with 148 gainers and 417 decliners.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index was down 1.24 per cent to 1,109.05 points.

Twenty-seven of the 30 large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket decreased while three climbed.

Leading the downtrend were the banking codes of Eximbank (EIB), Sacombank (STB), Vietinbank (CTG), VPBank (VPB) and Military Bank (MBB), Techcombank (TCB), SSI Securities Inc (SSI), Mobile World Group (MWG), and PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS).

Energy stocks performed negatively with losers such as PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD), Bình Sơn Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (BSR), Petrovietnam Transportation Corporation (PVT) and Drilling Mud Joint Stock Corporation (PVC). 

"After a strong rebound, the market cooled down and struggled strongly around MA 200. Liquidity increased, showing that there is a dispute between supply and demand. It is expected that the debate around MA 200 will continue in the near future for a further signals," said Việt Dragon Securities Co. 

"With the possibility of disputes, the market will have quite clear divergence in the near future. Therefore, investors should slow down to observe supply and demand, and should not buy stocks at high price. Currently, it is possible to take advantage of the increased market's ability to take profits or restructure the portfolio."

Twenty-one out of 25 sector indices on the stock market lost ground, including insurance, retail, energy, securities, IT, banking, logistics, food and beverage, rubber production, seafood processing, wholesale, real estate, healthcare, construction materials.

On the other side, gainers were household appliance, agriculture, and construction.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 0.69 per cent to close Friday at 226.65 points.

More than 124 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ2.3 trillion. — VNS