Cash notes counted at VNDirect Securities Corporation. Vietnamese shares dropped on Thursday morning as profit taking escalated. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

The Vietnamese stock market ended Thursday morning on a negative note as large-cap stocks continued being weighed down by profit taking.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange fell 0.35 per cent to end at 831.32 points.

The VN-Index inched down 0.13 per cent on Wednesday.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange lost 0.37 per cent to close at 111.45 points.

The northern market index had gained a total of 6.12 per cent in six straight days since May 6.

More than 219.3 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VND3.15 trillion (US$134.37 million).

Large-cap stocks kept weighing on the market as the large-cap tracker VN30-Index was down 0.60 per cent.

Twenty-two of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity declined while only seven stocks advanced.

Profit taking increased as investors tried to take profits from large-cap stocks’ recent rallies.

Among the worst performing stocks in the VN30 basket were HDBank (HDB), VPBank (VPB), Vincom Retail (VRE), tech group FPT (FPT), retailers Phu Nhuan Jeweller JSC (PNJ) and Mobile World Investment (MWG), and Techcombank (TCB).

Investors escaped from large-cap stocks to find opportunities in mid-cap and small-cap groups, boosting the two trackers up 0.59 per cent and 0.71 per cent.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS