Benchmark indices opened the week on a negative note, as many large-cap stocks were weighed on by selling force.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index fell 10.82 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 1,229.89 points.

The market's breadth was negative as nearly 260 stocks declined, while 153 stocks increased. Liquidity was also lower than the previous session, of which over VND6.24 trillion (US$269.4 million) worth of shares, equal to more than 259.8 million shares, was traded on the southern bourse.

Meanwhile, foreign investors net sold a value of more than VND100 billion on HoSE.

The market benchmark extended the last session's losses on a strong profit-taking force, which caused many stocks in the VN30 basket to face a sell-off, of which 24 stocks slid, while only six increased.

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, dropped 15.22 points, or 1.19 per cent, to 1,267.29 points.

Real estate and banking sectors continued to lead the trend, with Vingroup losing the most in the morning course, down 1.54 per cent.

Other stocks weighing on the bearish sentiment were Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Vinhomes (VHM), VPBank (VPB), Novaland (NVL), Becamex (BCM) and Vietinbank (CTG), all down at least 1 per cent.

Manufacturing stocks such as Mansan Group (MSN) and Vinamilk (VNM) also saw big falls of 1.3 per cent and 1.32 per cent, respectively.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index plummeted 0.89 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 306.13 points. VNS