Local market opened in a positive mood this morning, but lost momentum on investors' late selling. — VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Shares erased early gains to end in the negative territory this morning, led by securities firms and plastic and rubber producers.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange fell 0.3 per cent to close at 671.99 points.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange dropped 0.5 per cent to end at 84.15 points.

Large-cap stocks continued to suffer from late selling by investors, which dragged the market down.

More than half of the 30 largest companies by market capitalisation declined, including dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), Vietcombank (VCB), Sai Gon Securities Inc (SSI) and Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID).

VNM was down 1.6 per cent, VCB decreased by 1.5 per cent, SSI edged down 0.2 per cent and BID declined 0.6 per cent.

Speculative stocks such as property developer FLC Group (FLC), truck seller Hoang Huy Investment Services JSC (HHS) and Quang Nam Rubber JSC (VHG) also retreated from their recent gains.

Oil and gas stocks, however, recovered as crude prices ended positive on Monday. London-traded Brent crude rose 2.3 per cent to end at US$53.14 per barrel.

Among energy stocks, PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS) added 1.2 per cent and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp (PVS) increased by 0.9 per cent.

More than 88.6 million shares were traded across the two exchanges, worth more than VND1.7 trillion ($76.3 million). — VNS