The VN-Index ended lower on Thursday, ending a four-session winning streak as the market struggled amid anxious sentiment about the prolonged US election.
The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased 0.21 per cent to close at 937.75 points.
It had risen 2.3 per cent in the last four trading sessions.
More than 304.3 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND6.4 trillion (US$278 million).
Market breadth was negative with 276 decliners and 148 gainers.
“Liquidity declined, trading band narrowed and market breadth was negative, indicating a short-term profit-taking trend in the market,” said BIDV Securities Co.
“The VN-Index is retesting the resistance level of 940 points and waiting for the results of the US Presidential election,” said the company.
Some pillar stocks suffered strong selling pressure such as Vietnam Rubber Group JSC (GVR), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Sai Gon Thuong Tin Comercial Joint Stock Bank (STB), VPBank (VPB), FPT Corporation (FPT), The PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Service Corporation (PVD) and Techcombank (TCB).
GVR dropped by 3.9 per cent to VND14,900 per share, ACB went down by 2.4 per cent to VND24,900 per share, VPB slumped 2.1 per cent to VND23,700 per share, FPT dropped 1.9 per cent to VND52,000 per share.
On the other side, Masan Group (MSN), Kido Group (KDC), Phu Nhuan Jewelry (PNJ) and Vingroup (VIC) were the supporters of the overall market, contributing significantly to inhibiting the decline of the VN-Index.
MSN rose 4.4 per cent, KDC increased 1.4 per cent, PNJ increased 1.3 per cent and VIC gained 1 per cent.
The VN30-Index, which tracks the performance of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and liquidity on HoSE, decreased 0.20 per cent to close Thursday at 903.64 points.
In the VN-30 basket, seven stocks gained ground, 17 decreased and six remained flat.
On a sector basis, 17 of 25 sector indices lost ground, including energy, banking, seafood processing, construction materials, logistics, plastics and chemical production, wholesale, insurance, securities, retail, healthcare, information and technology.
Meanwhile, food and beverage, agriculture, real estate and construction were among the gainers.
The minor HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange decreased 1.23 per cent to end Thursday at 138.30 points.
The index had increased 1.05 per cent to end Wednesday at 140.03 points.
More than 38.6 million shares were traded on the northern exchange, worth VND526 billion.
Foreign investors net bought VND32.94 billion on HOSE. They were net buyers on the HNX with a value of VND5.97 billion. — VNS