Vietnamese stocks declined on Tuesday morning as investors looked to lock in profits from recent rallies. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Vietnamese shares ended Tuesday morning on a negative note as selling pressure increased following the VN-Index’s recent rallies.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange dropped 0.42 per cent to close at 990.22 points.

The southern market index had gained nearly 4.6 per cent over six straight trading days since February 15.

Nearly 142 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND2.74 trillion (US$117.8 million).

The stock market was dragged down by banks, petroleum firms and consumer staple businesses, which had helped the market rally in previous days.

The three sector indices lost between 0.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

Eximbank (EIB), TPBank (TPB), Sacombank (STB) and Military Bank (MBB) pulled the banking sector down.

Meanwhile, dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), Masan (MSN), PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) weighed on the two other industries.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index ended almost flat at 107.59 points compared to Monday’s close of 107.61 points.

Nearly 53 million shares were exchanged on the northern bourse, worth VND904.3 billion.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS