Investors watch trading at a local securities transactions floor. Shares treaded water yesterday under heavy selling pressure by foreign investors. — Photo hanoimoi.com.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Shares walked a tightrope yesterday under heavy selling pressure by foreign investors while volatile global oil prices pushed oil and gas stocks down.

The VN-Index, the measure of 310 stocks on the HCM Stock Exchange, managed to close marginally unchanged at 660.7 points. It increased 0.4 per cent on Wednesday.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index which tracks 379 stocks inched down 0.1 per cent to end the session at 83.7 points.

Almost 36 per cent of total stocks declined while 23 per cent advanced.

The market was cushioned by rises of specific stocks, including private equity Masan Group (MSN), confectionery Kinh Do Corp (KDC) and dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM).

Masan Group and Kinh Do Corp hit the daily limit growth of 7 per cent while the biggest listed stock Vinamilk increased 1.8 per cent.

Masan Group yesterday announced it will buy back 20 million shares of the company and adjust its 2016 profits up another 25 per cent.

Foreign investors extended their net selling to five sessions in a row, offloading another VND250.5 billion (US$11.2 million) worth of shares on the HCM City's exchange. They were responsible for a total net sell value of nearly VND894 billion in the past five sessions.

In Ha Noi's market, they bought a small net value of VND1.3 billion.

"Continuous net sells by foreign investors is a risk factor," stock analysts at VP Bank Securities Co wrote in a note.

They said investment opportunities emerged in individual stocks instead of spreading across the whole market.

On the other end of spectrum, many large-cap stocks slumped, including shares among top 10 biggest stocks by market capitalisation like insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), lender BIDV (BID) and PV Gas (GAS).

Oil and gas stocks were also losers yesterday following a fall in global oil. International Brent crude oil futures were down 0.3 per cent yesterday from their last close to $49.69 per barrel.

GAS and PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Services (PVD), the two biggest oil stocks, were down 2.4 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively. Others like Petroleum Equipment Assembly & Metal Structure (PXS), PetroViet Nam Coating (PVB) and PetroVietnam Drilling Mud (PVC) decreased between 1.4 per cent and 3.1 per cent.

Liquidity improved slightly with nearly 170 million shares worth over VND3.5 trillion being traded in the two markets, up 2.4 per cent in volume and 5.6 per cent in value compared with Wednesday's figures. — VNS