The market ended mixed on Thursday as some large-cap stocks lost further in the late session, causing the VN-Index to reverse the morning course. Meanwhile, foreign investment kept fleeing the market.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) fell 0.06 points to 1,391.85 points, while the market's breadth remained positive.

The liquidity, however, continued to improve with more than 725.5 million shares traded on the southern market, worth over VND22.1 trillion (US$782.1 million).

The index was weighed by losses in some large-cap stocks, with the VN30-Index posting a decrease of 2.17 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 1,503.38 points. Fifteen of the 30 biggest stocks in the VN30 basket slid, while eleven stocks climbed and four stayed flat.

Pillar real estate stocks continued to lead the market's downtrend. Vinhomes (VHM) and Vingroup (VIC) from the Vin family were still the biggest losers, with Vinhomes extending losses in the afternoon session.

Of which, VHM edged 1.38 per cent lower to finish the day at VND78,900 per share, while VIC slid 0.64 per cent to VND92,500 per share.

Bank stocks also contributed to the benchmark's losses with Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) down by 3.33 per cent and BIDV (BID) down 0.31 per cent.

The index pared losses on the back of some stocks like Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Phat Dat Real Estate Development JSC (PDR) and Development Investment Construction (DIG). These stocks rose in a range of 2.4 - 5.65 per cent.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index climbed 5.5 points, or 1.45 per cent, to 384.84 points, boosted by utilities stocks like IDICO Corporation (IDC), up 9.58 per cent.

During the session, 123.49 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth over VND2.9 trillion.

On the other hand, foreign investors still were net sellers on both main exchanges, with a total value of VND687.8 billion. Of which, they net sold a value of VND644.98 billion on HoSE, and VND42.82 billion on HNX. — VNS