Liquidity was low on the two exchanges with a total of 67.5 million shares worth VND1.5 trillion (US$65.8 million) traded in the morning. — Photo cafef.vn

Shares were volatile on Thursday morning as many large caps plunged, weighing on the two markets.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange suddenly dropped at the end of the morning trade, down 0.26 per cent at 912.60 points, though it had traded above the reference threshold for most of the morning.

Only five of the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity in the southern market advanced while 23 declined.

Banks were the biggest draggers, with BIDV (BID), Vietinbank and Vietcombank (VCB) each falling 1.6-2.6 per cent. Other losers included brewer PV Gas (GAS), Mobile World Group (MWG), Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Sabeco (SAB) and Vinamilk (VNM), with losses of between 0.3-3 per cent each.

The market breadth was negative with 100 stocks rising, 161 falling and 101 closing flat.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index closed down 1.54 per cent at 98.45 points.

Liquidity was low on the two exchanges with a total of 67.5 million shares worth VND1.5 trillion (US$65.8 million) traded in the morning.

Only 12 stocks saw trading volume of over one million shares in the two markets, of which ceramics producer Viglacera (VCG) and property developer Dat Xanh Group (DXG) were the most active with each having over three million shares changing hands. – VNS