Shares fell on the HCM Stock Exchange after rallying for 10 days to its 10-year high as the market was hit by strong investor selling.
The benchmark VN Index dropped 0.24 per cent to end Friday at 890.69 points. It had made a 10-day rally of total 7.1 per cent.
The southern market index advanced total 2.6 per cent on a weekly basis and 6.4 per cent since the start of November.
More than 188.5 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND5.36 trillion (US$238.3 million).
The trading figures posted a decline of 8.7 per cent in volume and 27 per cent in value compared to Thursday.
Viet Nam’s major stock market was dominated by declining stocks, which outnumbered gaining ones by 168 to 111.
Large-cap stocks were hit by investors’ profit-taking after the benchmark VN Index had rallied for 10 consecutive sessions.
Twenty-four of the 30 largest companies by market capitalisation in the VN30 Index saw share prices drop while only four advanced, causing the large-cap index to fall nearly 0.3 per cent to 887.41 points.
Among decliners were Binh Minh Plastic (BMP), DHG Pharmaceutical Co (DHG), Sacombank (STB), logistics firm Gemadept (GMD) and food producer Kido (KDC).
BMP lost 2.7 per cent to erase its entire growth made in the previous two days. It had grown total 23 per cent since the end of October.
GMD dropped 2 per cent following its three-day increase of 8.6 per cent. Gemadept shares had gained more than 10.2 per cent in total so far this month.
DHG and KDC also retreated after they had gained total 9.1 per cent and 6.2 per cent in the three previous sessions. The two stocks declined by 2.5 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.
Though the VN Index put an end to its 10-day rally on Friday, the benchmark index was able to stay above the 890-point level amid the increase of investor selling during the session, Bao Viet Securities Co (BVSC) analyst Tran Xuan Bach said in a note.
Trading liquidity has remained stable around the average number of the last 21 sessions with spreading investment among local stocks, proving that investor sentiment was quite positive and reduced the dependence of the market on large-cap stocks, he said.
However, the benchmark index will continue struggling in the range of 890-895 points and it could fall back to the area of 860-865 points, Bach warned.
The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange struggled in the entire session to finish at 108.31 points, slightly unchanged from Thursday’s ending level of 108.29 points.
Friday’s gain also extended the northern market index’s gain for an eighth session with total growth of 3.3 per cent.
More than 58.9 million shares were traded on Ha Noi’s market, worth nearly VND750 billion. — VNS