The VN-Index managed to keep its head above the 1,000-point level on Wednesday despite selling pressure that pushed it below the benchmark during trading.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange lost 0.43 per cent to close at 1,002.30 points, successfully maintained the 1,000-point level for the seventh consecutive session.

The southern market index lost 0.52 per cent to close Tuesday at 1,006.59 points.

More than 300 million shares were exchanged on the southern bourse, worth VND8 trillion (US$343.7 million).

The blue-chip VN30 Index was down 0.37 per cent to 924.12 points.

Twenty of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation ended in negative territory while nine increased.

The downward pressure on the overall market remained high. Blue-chip stocks like Vincom Retail (VRE), Masan Group (MSN), Vinhomes (VHM), PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PVD), Bank for Investment and Development (BID) and PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) fell sharply.

Although the market suffered from selling pressure on Wednesday, large-cap stocks such as steelmakers Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Military Bank (MBB) and dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM) gained at the end of the session and helped narrow the decline of the general market.

HPG rose 1.3 per cent to close at VND32,200 and matched more than 5.6 million shares.

The electricity industry also performed well following the news that the average retail price of power had officially increased by 8.36 per cent from VND1,720.65 to VND1,864.44 per kWh. Both Pha Lai Thermal Power Joint Stock Company (PPC) and Ba Ria Thermal Power Joint Stock Company (BTP) both hit their ceiling prices.

Other power suppliers also soared, including Power Generation Joint Stock Corporation 3 (PGV), up 4.2 per cent; Song Ba Joint Stock Company (SBA), up 3.4 per cent; and PetroVietnam Power Nhon Trach 2 JSC (NT2), up 3.3 per cent.

Cautious sentiment dominated the market with information from the US Federal Reserve to discuss the US economic situation as well as the roadmap for upcoming interest rate increases awaited.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 0.40 per cent to end at 109.62 points.

The northern market index lost 0.74 per cent to end Tuesday at 110.06 points.

More than 49 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND747 billion.

The market’s short-term uptrend was possibly heading towards the 1,020-1,025 zone with a wide divergence among stock groups, BVSC forecast.

“Bank, oil and gas and real estate will be attractive to capital flows. Stock exposure should be limited to 50 per cent of portfolios,” the company said. — VNS