Vietcombank's new transaction office in Hoi An, Da Nang. The bank shares end lower on Friday, down 0.69 per cent.— Photo courtesy of Vietcombank

Viet Nam's stock market was mixed on Friday, ending its two-day rally after a long holiday.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index dropped 0.07 per cent to 1,173.5 points. The decrease went against expectations from analysts that the index might increase at the end of the session despite some strong fluctuations.

"The VN-Index is expected to slightly increase in the last trading session of the week. However, the market might face some corrections in the session with a clearer division between stock lines," Bao Viet Securities wrote in a daily report.

It also believed that the benchmark might have a higher chance in gaining points in the first five days after Tet holiday rather than the possibility of losing points. The index declined during Thursday's morning session but bounced back in the afternoon.

Big stocks faced strong selling pressure today, with the large-cap tracker VN30-Index sliding 0.62 per cent to end Friday at 1,180,59 points. Twenty-two of 30 biggest stocks lost points, while only six rose. And two stocks ended flat.

During the session, nearly 578.3 million shares were traded in the southern bourse, equivalent to a value of over VND14.7 trillion.

Top five stocks influencing the market trend today were Vingroup JSC (VIC), down 0.91 per cent, Vietcombank (VCB), down 0.69 per cent, PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), down 1.33 per cent, Viet Nam Dairy Production JSC (VNM), down 0.92 per cent, and VPBank (VBP), down 1.69 per cent.

Meanwhile the winner of the market was Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), followed by JSC Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID) and Vietnam Rubber Group JSC (GVR). The ACB shares traded at VND31,100, up 6.69 per cent, while BID and GVR gained 1.61 per cent and 2.37 per cent, respectively.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index, the northern market's benchmark, reversed course from the morning session. The index rose 0.1 per cent to 231.18 points after losing 0.08 per cent in the morning.

The HNX30-Index also bounced back in the afternoon session, up 0.09 per cent to end Friday at 353,35 points.

More than 101.8 million shares were traded on the northern market during Friday's session, worth nearly VND1.8 trillion.

On the other hand, foreign investors were net sellers on both exchanges today, with a net value of VND12.85 billion on the HoSE and VND612.52 million on the HNX. — VNS