The market ended mixed on Friday, with the VN-Index weighed by losses in large-cap stocks, while foreign investors continued to net sell on two main exchanges.
The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) dropped by 0.87 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 1,063.76 points. After experiencing up and down sessions, the index logged a weekly loss. It gained nearly 3 points on Thursday.
The bearish sentiment persisted despite the welcomed news on the approval of the Power Development Plan 8 and the central bank's rate cut decision.
The breadth of the market, however, was positive as many penny stocks performed well. Particularly, on the southern bourse, 211 stocks edged higher, while 112 finished lower.
Liquidity fell in both trading volume and value, with nearly VND11 trillion (US$463.6 million) worth of shares, equivalent to more than 640.7 million ticker symbols, traded on HoSE.
Strong declines in large-cap stocks of attractive sectors, which dominate the market's trend, led to a decrease in the 30 biggest stocks tracker, VN30-Index. Accordingly, the VN30-Index plunged 1.34 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 1,060.81 points.
Twelve stocks in the VN30 basket went down, while 11 stocks increased and seven stayed unchanged.
Data compiled by financial website vietstock.vn showed that Vietcombank (VCB) lost the most in market capitalisation on Friday, leading the bearish trend. The bank's shares plummeted 1.29 per cent.
Also pressuring the market, Vingroup (VIC), PV Gas (GAS), BIDV (BID), and Sabeco (SAB) were down at least 1.06 per cent.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index traded higher in the last trading session of the week, marking its third straight gainning session.
The northern bourse's benchmark closed the day at 217.64 points, up 0.86 points, or 0.4 per cent. During the trade, investors poured more than VND1.35 trillion into the exchange, equal to a trading volume of 86.5 million shares.
Meanwhile, foreign investors kept running away from the market as they net sold more than VND332 billion on both main exchange. Specifically, they net sold VND332.28 billion on HoSE, and VND768.87 million on HNX. VNS