HCM City Securities Corp's office. The company shares gained 2.6 per cent on Tuesday. — Photo ndh.vn

Vietnamese shares slid on Tuesday morning as the large-cap sector succumbed to increased profit taking pressure.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange dropped 0.23 per cent to 1,027.58 points.

The VN-Index had gained total 2.68 per cent in the previous five trading days since December 1.

More than 310 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND5.83 trillion (US$252.6 million).

The southern market was pulled down by the decline of several blue chips.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index was down 0.08 per cent to 991.19 points.

Nineteen of the 30 large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket decreased while seven rose.

Among the decliners were Vingroup (VIC), dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), Masan (MSN), Vietcombank (VCB), and Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID).

On the opposite side, shares of securities firms advanced to bolster the market sentiment.

The brokerage sector gained 2.1 per cent, led by SSI Securities (SSI), HCM City Securities (HCM), and VNDirect Securities (VND).

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose 0.26 per cent to 154.60 points.

The northern market index increased by 1.13 per cent on Monday.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS