Shares struggled around the reference price range on Tuesday with cautious cash flow and short-term profit-taking pressuring the overall uptrend of the market.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose by 0.02 per cent, to 1,065.91 points.

The breadth of the market was negative with 169 gainers and 200 losers. Matching value on the southern bourse reached VND11.3 trillion (US$481.8 million), equal to a trading volume of more than 681.4 million shares.

Foreign investors net sold a total of VND6 billion on HOSE. This is the 12th net selling session in the last 15 sessions.

The cash flow tended to be cautious and created opportunities for short-term profit-taking pressure, which put pressure on the overall uptrend of the market. The indices closed with less positive patterns along with increasing liquidity, said Viet Dragon Securities Co.

“This shows that the sellers are active again at the high price zone. It is expected that VN-Index will continue to retreat to retest the level of 1,060 points passed in the next session.”

“However, in the meantime, we can expect the market to be supported from 1,060-1,065 points and soon return to an uptrend after that. Therefore, investors can continue to consider holding or waiting for short-term opportunities in stocks with good technical signals and attracting cash flow.”

The VN30-Index posted a fall of 0.12 per cent, to 1,069.64 points. Of the VN30 basket, 13 out of the 30 biggest stocks in market capitalisation on HoSE inched down, while 13 ticker symbols gained and four were flat.

The VN-Index's upward trend was restrained by profit-taking activities of investors and weak sentiment.

The three stocks putting the worst impact on VN-Index were Vingroup (VIC) down 2.8 per cent, VPBank (VPB) losing 1 per cent, and Masan Group (MSN) dropping 1.1 per cent. The three stocks that most bolstered the gain of VN-Index were Vietcombank (VCB) up 1 per cent, Vinhomes (VHM) gaining 1 per cent and Vinamilk (VNM) rising 1 per cent.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) ended the trading day at 214.62 points, a rise of 0.14 per cent.

During the session, more than 93 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VND1.4 trillion.

According to Nguyen Thi Phuong Lam, Director of Analysis Center at Viet Dragon Securities Joint Stock Company, Q1 profit results of more than 1,000 listed organisations, including banks on the three stock exchanges, decreased by more than 16 per cent over the same period of 2022. Only a few industries recorded high profit growth such as industrial parks and offices for rent, tourism and entertainment and aviation groups.

“These industries had been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, so a recovery in the first quarter of 2023 is reasonable,” she said.

Meanwhile, most of the remaining industry groups showed a negative profit growth, especially retail, financial services, chemicals, auto parts, construction and building materials, with a profit reduction of 60 per cent to 80 per cent year-on-year. — VNS