The VN-Index inches down 0.62 per cent to close at 648.21 points on August 1's morning session. — Photo thoibaotaichinhvietnam.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) – Shares fell on the two exchanges this morning, led by large-cap stocks, as the prospects of first-half earnings ran out of steam.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index inched down 0.62 per cent to close at 648.21 points, while the HNX-Index on the Ha Noi bourse decreased 0.58 per cent to end at 83.22 points.

The 20 largest stocks in terms of market capitalisation lost value, including leading stocks such as dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), Vietcombank (VCB), Eximbank (EIB) and steelmakers Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG). The losses ranged from one per cent to four per cent each.

The earnings' prospects boosted the market in the previous weeks, but as many companies have released their financial reports, investor expectations would be subdued, analysts predicted.

Liquidity was low this morning, as 68.5 million shares, worth a combined VND1.4 trillion (US$63 million), were traded on the two markets.

Only 14 of the total 689 stocks saw trading of more than one million shares. Tan Tao Investment Industrial Co (ITA) is temporarily leading the trade nationwide, with 4.7 million of its shares changing hands.

The afternoon session will start at 1pm. —  VNS