The market was mixed on Friday morning as lingering selling pressure continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) declined by 3.34 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 1,250.81 points.

The index fell sharply since the market opened, but gains in some large-cap stocks cushioned the losses.

The market’s breadth was negative with 258 stocks decreasing, while 174 increased.

Liquidity continued its recent downtrend, of which the matching value on the HoSE dropped 17.5 per cent to VND7.8 trillion (US$336.4 million), equal to a matching volume of 353 million shares.

The market benchmark’s pull back was due to losses in pillar sectors, including banking, manufacturing and real estate industries.

The VN30-Index also posted a slide of 5.37 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 1,272.36 points.

In the VN30 basket, only nine stocks picked up, while 20 were down and one stayed flat.

Leading the bearish trend, Vinhomes (VHM) plunged by 1.43 per cent this morning, followed by Masan Group (MSN), Vingroup (VIC) and Vietcombank (VCB).

Other stocks reporting big losses were Hoa Phat Group (HPG), PV Gas (GAS), Sabeco (SAB) and BIDV (BID), down in a range of 0.64-1.27 per cent.

However, the index pared losses with gains of some large-cap stocks, including Novaland (NVL), Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN), Becamex (BCM) and PV Power (POW), up at least 1.56 per cent.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) inched higher this morning, up 0.59 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 298.32 points. VNS