Vietnamese shares dipped on Tuesday as foreign capital was withdrawn on worries about geopolitical instability in the region.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange fell 0.87 per cent to close at 966.83 points.

The VN-Index added 0.10 per cent on Monday.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange dropped 0.51 per cent to end at 102.29 points.

The northern market index ended Monday almost flat at 102.82 points.

Net foreign selling increased sharply on Tuesday as investors were concerned about the instability of regional stock markets following recent protests in Hong Kong, Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities (SHS) said in its daily report.

Geopolitical tensions in Eastern Asia forced US stocks to drop on Monday night, pulling Asia markets along.

Foreign investors offloaded total net value of VND305 billion (US$13 million) on Tuesday, focusing on Vietjet (VJC), PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) and Vicostone (VCS).

Negative market sentiment triggered large-scale selling on the Vietnamese stock market and raised trading liquidity sharply, SHS added.

More than 210 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VND5.66 trillion, increasing from Monday’s figures.

In addition, the market was overshadowed by negative outlook of the global economic growth, MB Securities (MBS) said in a note.

The market breadth was negative. On the two exchanges, declining stocks outnumbered gainers by 306 to 161 while 106 stocks remained stable.

The worst-performing stocks were in real estate, securities, petroleum and energy, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, banking, and food and beverage industries.

Investors were clearly betting on the chance that the stock market would keep falling in August, SHS said.

The VN30 futures that will expire on August 19 ended Tuesday at 872.10 points.

Its underlying index – the large-cap VN30-Index – finished down 0.48 per cent at 877.97 points.

In the VN30 basket, 20 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity declined.

The difference between the VN30-Index and its August futures indicated pessimism among investors.

The VN30-Index, with blue-chip stocks such as dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM) and Vietcombank (VCB), determines the movement of the stock market.

The Vietnamese stock market was now exposed to short-term risks and any recoveries would be technical and short-lived, SHS said.

Amid the lack of supportive information, the benchmark VN-Index may experience a technical recovery to head to its short-term resistance of 970 points, SHS forecast. — VNS