Shares ended negative on both local markets on Wednesday morning as investors sought profits from recent gains.— Photo vneconomy.vn

Shares ended negative on both local markets on Wednesday morning as investors sought profits from recent gains.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange closed at 725.25 points, slightly up from Tuesday’s 725.03 points.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange dropped 0.27 per cent to end at 91.03 points. The northern market index rallied a total of 1.5 per cent in the previous three days.

Market trading liquidity was high with more than 158.8 million shares being exchanged, worth VND2.92 trillion (US$129.9 million).

Following the recent gains, brokerages warned investors to be cautious, expecting some would try offloading stocks that had made strong gains, such as property developers.

The real estate sector was pushed down by FLC Group (FLC), Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate (HQC), Vingroup (VIC) and Tan Tao Investment and Industry (ITA).

FLC fell 0.6 per cent, HQC slipped 2.3 per cent, VIC inched down 0.1 per cent and ITA lost 2.7 per cent.

In addition, lower oil prices in global trading pulled energy stocks down, including PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Coating (PVB) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS).

The afternoon session starts at 1pm. — VNS