The stock market ended mixed on Monday as some profit-taking activities on bank stocks weighed on sentiment.
The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) edged 8.19 points, or 0.55 per cent, down to 1,484.84 points. The benchmark lost 0.52 per cent in the last trading session after breaching the historical peak of 1,500 points last Thursday.
The fall occurred after the new variant of coronavirus was found in South Africa, raising concerns over the slowdown of the global economy and disruptions in supply chains.
The market's breadth was negative as 187 stocks increased, while 293 stocks declined. The liquidity remained high but still fell slightly compared to the last session. Of which, the total trading value on HoSE dropped 8.4 per cent to VND30.03 trillion (US$1.3 billion).
The index was weighed by losses in most large-cap stocks, especially in banking, manufacturing and energy sectors.
The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index posted a loss of 13.51 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 1,553.04 points. Data compiled by vietstock.vn showed that only four stocks in the VN30 basket climbed yesterday, while 26 stocks slid.
Bank stocks led the market's downtrend with Vietcombank (VCB) posting the biggest losses of 3.71 per cent, followed by Techcombank (TCB), down 3.15 per cent.
The market's benchmark was also weighed by other stocks, including Masan Group (MSN), PetroVietnam Gas (PV Gas, GAS) and BIDV (BID). These stocks dropped in a range of 2.09 - 3.17 per cent.
The positive point of the market yesterday was the gains in the real estate sector. Two of the stocks in the trio Vin family, including Vingroup (VIC) and Vinhomes (VHM), recorded the biggest gains, with VIC hitting the maximum daily gain of 7 per cent.
However, on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index rose 1.95 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 460.58 points.
During the trading session, nearly 163.6 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth over VND4.8 trillion.
Meanwhile, foreign investors continued to be net sellers on both main exchanges, with a total value of VND562.03 billion. Of which, they net sold a value of VND352.41 billion on HoSE, and a value of VND209.62 billion on HNX. — VNS