Viet Nam’s benchmark VN Index finished on Tuesday morning in negative territory as cautious sentiment was triggered, with investors remaining uncertain of the stock market's prospects.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange edged down 0.26 per cent to 1.12337 points after gaining 0.26 per cent on Monday.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index was up 1.16 per cent to 127.61 points after advancing 1.16 per cent in the previous session.

A total of 165.2 million shares, worth VND4.1 trillion (US$181.8 million), were traded in the two markets in the morning trade.

The overall market condition, however, was negative as the losing stocks outnumbered the gaining ones by 242-177, while 312 others remained unchanged.

Bank stocks underperformed as the shares of major lenders, such as Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), VPBank (VPB) and HBBank (HDB), decreased.

The increased selling, which targeted large-cap stocks, pushed 22 of the 30 largest shares by market capitalisation in the VN30 Index down. The VN30 Index dropped 0.33 per cent to 1.10336 points.

Among the decliners in the VN30 Index were insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), steel producer Hoa Phat (HPG), petrol firm Petrolimex (PLX) and DHG Pharmaceutical JSC (DHG).

On the minor Unlisted Public Company Market under the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the UP Index fell 0.56 per cent to 60.97 points, with over 14 million shares worth VND285 billion being traded.

The afternoon trade session starts at 1pm. — VNS