Shares opened high early on Tuesday, but declined towards the end of the morning session because of weak trading. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Shares opened high early on Tuesday, but declined towards the end of the morning session because of weak trading.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange ended marginally higher at 674.4 points after hitting nearly 678 early in the day. The index had gained 1.1 per cent on Monday.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was down 0.3 per cent at 80.9 points. It had risen by 0.8 per cent in the previous session.

Many blue chip companies such as dairy giant Vinamilk (VNM), lender BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), HCM City Securities Corp (HCM), steelmaker Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and software producer FPT Corp (FPT) maintained their rise.

At the other end of spectrum, companies like real estate developer VinGroup (VIC), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), private equity firm Masan Group (MSN) and Sacombank (STB) tumbled and dragged the market down.

Overall, the market condition was neutral with 177 of 693 stocks advancing and 185 declining in the two markets.

Analysts said many traders have stayed away as they are waiting for a clearer market trend to emerge after the US presidential election, which will conclude Tuesday.

Liquidity remained low, with over 66 million shares worth around VND1.2 trillion (US$53.4million) being traded on the two exchanges.

The afternoon trading starts at 1pm. — VNS