The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange fell 0.2 per cent to close at 662.55 points on Wednesday morning.

Market trading liquidity remained modest. Nearly 60.2 million shares were exchanged across the board, worth VND1.18 trillion (US$52.6 million).

Large-cap stocks remained the most important factor that pulled the southern market index down, with 16 of the 30 largest companies by capitalisation declining.

Of the 10 blue chips, six ended the early session in the negative territory, including Sai Gon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corp (SAB), property and retail giant Vingroup (VIC), private equity firm Masan Group (MSN) and insurance-finance service provider Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), as well as Vietcombank (VCB) and Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID).

SAB dropped 0.3 per cent, VIC slipped 1.4 per cent, MSN edged down 0.8 per cent and BVH slashed 1.3 per cent, as well as VCB lost 0.6 per cent and BID slid 0.7 per cent.

Ocean Group JSC (OGC) surged 6.5 per cent and was the most active stock, with more than 5.4 million of its shares being exchanged.

The second most active stock on the southern market was property developer group Novaland Investment Group Corp (NVL), with nearly 3.5 million of its shares being exchanged. NVL surged 20 per cent on its debut on the stock market.

On the opposite side, the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange gained 0.3 per cent to close at 79.13 points.

Only 14.3 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND145.8 billion. — VNS