Vietnamese shares edged down Thursday morning with low market liquidity, indicating that investors remained uncertain about the short-term prospects of the market.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange fell 0.64 per cent to close at 1,023.93 points. It gained 0.96 per cent on Wednesday.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange lost 0.60 per cent to close at 115.96 points. It had inched up 0.15 per cent the previous day.

Liquidity remained modest with of nearly 114 million shares worth VND2.66 trillion (US$118 million) being traded on the two local exchanges.

Declining stocks dominated the two indices, with losers outnumbering gainers 201 to 155, indicating a negative market breadth.

Key areas of the stock market, including the banking-financial, property development, plastic production, energy, and food and beverage sectors, continued to underperform,.

Large-cap stocks were on the negative side as 19 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation declined, pulling the VN30 Index down 0.74 per cent to 1,011.01 points.

Among the declining stocks were the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID), Vietcombank (VCB), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), and budget carrier Vietjet (VJC), as well as eral estate firm Novaland (NVL) and steel producer Hoa Phat (HPG).

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. – VNS