Shares close in the red this morning on both stock exchanges in Ha Noi and HCM City. — Photo dantri.com.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Shares closed in the red this morning on both stock exchanges, dragged down by blue chips, despite opening on a high note.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched down 0.06 per cent to end at 586.21 points, while the VN30, which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity, declined 0.16 per cent to stand at 618.31 points.

Large-cap stocks, such as Hoang Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), FLC Group (FLC) and Sacombank (STB), besides FPT Corp (FPT), Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Phu My Fertiliser (DPM), lost value.

Liquidity was low with the trading of just 42 million shares, worth VND702 billion (US$32.8 million), by the end of the morning.

FLC remained the most active code, with the trading of nearly six million of its shares, dropping 0.86 per cent to close at VND11,500 ($0.54) per share.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index slipped 0.58 per cent to finish at 85.51 points, as the losers outnumbered the gainers by 85 to 52, while 226 remained flat.

Trading was dry, as just 19.4 million shares worth VND280 billion ($13.1 million) were exchanged.

Only four stocks saw trading of more than one million shares, led by Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB) with 1.75 million shares. However, the shares lost 1.12 per cent to close at VND8,800 per share.

The afternoon session will start at 1pm. — VNS