Investors at VNDirect Securities Company. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Vietnamese shares declined slightly on Friday morning following a two-day increase as investors remained cautious about market trading conditions.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange and the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange closed down 0.05 per cent each at 769.42 points and 102.23 points, respectively.

Nearly 172 million shares were traded on both local exchanges, worth VND2.43 trillion (US$108.3 million). Trading figures on Friday morning were slightly higher than those on Thursday morning.

Declining stocks on both local exchanges outnumbered gaining stocks by 248 to 148, while 118 other stocks ended flat.

Shares of banks, property developers and insurance companies extended gains from Thursday's session.

Gainers among these stocks included Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Vietcombank (VCB), PetroVietnam Insurance Corp (PVI) and Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), as well as FLC Group (FLC), Vingroup (VIC) and Dat Xanh Real Estate Corp (DXG).

On the opposite side, brokerages, plastic producers and agriculture firms were among the decliners.

The brokerage sector index posted a decline of 0.4 per cent while the plastic industry dropped 0.6 per cent.

The two industries were pulled down by Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities (SHS), VNDirect Securities (VND) and Binh Minh Plastic JSC (BMP).

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS