Sabeco (SAB) gained 6.8 per cent on Tuesday morning but still failed to rescue the VN-Index from another fall. — Photo cafef.vn

Shares failed to recover from Monday’s plummet, despite efforts made by beverage firms in which the State holds a majority stake.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange fell 0.38 per cent to end Tuesday morning at 914.00 points.

Viet Nam’s benchmark index plunged 2.42 per cent on Monday.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange sank 1.91 per cent to close at 109.65 points, extending its downward trend for a third consecutive day.

More than 167.6 million shares were traded on both local bourses, worth VND3.58 trillion (US$159 million).

The two local exchanges were still dominated by declining stocks, which outnumbered gaining shares by 318 to 64, while 92 others stayed unchanged.

In spite of efforts from dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM) and brewer Sabeco (SAB), in which the government holds a controlling stake, the stock market continued to move lower and signalled a further decline.

VNM and SAB gained 1.1 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively, following the news that the Ministry of Industry and Trade had received an offer from Vietnam Beverage Co Ltd to purchase 25 per cent of Sabeco’s outstanding shares.

On the negative side, downfall of the large-caps remained the biggest obstacle for the stock market, with 22 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 Index falling.

The worst decliners included Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corp (KBC), insurance-finance group Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID).

The afternoon trade session starts at 1pm. – VNS