Vietnamese shares extended their losses on Wednesday as large-cap stocks lost momentum on the withdrawal of capital as foreign investors continued to offload assets.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange fell 0.70 per cent to close at 927.58 points, totaling a two-day decline of nearly 1 per cent.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange dropped 1.86 per cent to end at 103.58 points. The northern market has declined by a total of 3.75 per cent this week.

Nearly 280 million shares were traded on the two exchanges worth VND5 trillion (US$225.5 million), up 6.2 per cent in volume and down 3 per cent in value compared to Tuesday.

Large-cap stocks were the major factor that dragged the stock market down as the VN30 Index tracking the performance of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation finished down 0.85 per cent at 915.68 points.

Nineteen of the 30 largest stocks in the VN30 basket traded in negative territory, including Vietinbank (CTG), Vietcombank (VCB), steel producer Hoa Phat (HPG), digital retailer Mobile World (MWG), Vincom Retail (VRE) and Saigon Securities Inc (SSI).

Capital continued to flow out of large-cap stocks on earnings expectations, while investors were still concerned about the current market conditions, which could be affected by the rising exchange rates and unpredictable global markets.

Blue chips that suffered were also leading stocks in their industries. VCB and CTG pushed the banking sector index down 3.1 per cent, SSI contributed to a 3.2 per cent drop in the brokerage sector index, and the retail sector index dropped 0.8 per cent on MWG, data on vietstock.vn showed.

Foreign investors remained net sellers for a second day, posting nearly VND187 billion worth of net sales following VND351 billion on Tuesday.

On the opposite side, energy and insurance stocks were among those that cushioned the market.

Energy stocks continued to benefit from rising oil prices. Brent crude traded at $73.84 a barrel, up 0.54 per cent from the previous session.

Energy stocks that made gains included PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), PetroVietnam Mud Drilling (PVC) and PetroVietnam Coating Corp (PVB).

According to Bao Viet Securities JSC (BVSC), dramatic selling pressure in the final minutes of the session and net foreign sell-offs could have had negative impacts on the market sentiment.

“Cash is running into speculative stocks, but profit-taking pressure surged in other stocks, especially blue chips,” BVSC wrote in a report.

The stock market was likely to suffer negative movement with capital still focusing on penny stocks in the next session, the company forecast, adding that the next bottom line for the VN Index may be 912-926 points. — VNS