Shares fell sharply on Monday morning as selling pressure weighed on market sentiment.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the benchmark VN-Index plunged 30.3 points, or 2.36 per cent, to 1,252.27 points.

The market's breadth was negative, while liquidity rose over the previous session. Of which, the matching value on the southern bourse increased by 33.9 per cent to VND11.4 trillion (US$488.7 million), equivalent to a matching volume of 490 million shares.

Meanwhile, foreign investors also net sold VND157.9 billion on HoSE in the morning trade.

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on the southern market, posted a fall of 29.1 points, or 2.23 per cent, to 1,277.71 points.

Of the VN30 basket, 29 stocks declined, while one stayed flat.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index dropped 9.11 points, or 3.04 per cent, to 290.39 points.

Strong sell-off pressure was the main driving force for the market, triggering big losses across all sectors.

Real estate, banking and manufacturing stocks remained the market's leaders. Specifically, Vingroup (VIC) lost the most, down 2.92 per cent. It was followed by Vietcombank (VCB), Vinhomes (VHM), Becamex (BCM) and Hoa Phat Group (HPG), all down in a range of 1.82-4.75 per cent.

Other big names witnessing poor performance were BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), VPBank (VPB), Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Techcombank (TCB), Sabeco (SAB), Vinamilk (VNM), Novaland (NVL), FPT Corporation (FPT) and Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG). VNS