An investor monitors stock prices on his cellphone. Investors tried to buy in stocks at very cheap prices on Tuesday morning. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Overall market sentiment remained poor on Tuesday morning while some investors took the chance to buy in at cheap prices.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange lost 0.93 per cent to close at 740.94 points.

The VN-Index was down 1.83 per cent on Monday.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange inched down 0.21 per cent to end at 99.41 points, extending its decline from a 1.74 per cent drop on Monday.

More than 206.3 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VND2.63 trillion (US$113 million).

The trading figure included nearly 144 million shares being traded in order-matching transactions, worth VND1.85 trillion.

The local market kept falling as global stocks were shaken by a historical decline of the US stock market on Monday.

The VN-Index and the HNX-Index lost as much as 3.48 per cent and 2.84 per cent, respectively.

Purchases for cheap shares helped the two indices spare some losses.

Large-cap stocks continued to weigh on the local markets. The worst-performing large-caps included property firm Vincom Retail (VRE), Military Bank (MBB), Vietinbank (CTG) and Vietcombank (VCB).

The large-cap trackers VN30 and HNX30 indices dropped 0.83 per cent and 0.42 per cent, respectively.

Investors took the chance to look for opportunities in small-cap stocks, boosting the VNSML-Index and HNX Mid/Small Index up 0.10-0.34 per cent.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS