Rising selling pressure increased in the latter half of Tuesday’s session and pulled the market down, despite the recovery of some blue chips.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index inched down 0.08 per cent to close at 1,053.35 points. The southern market’s index had risen 0.3 per cent on Monday.

Liquidity increased to more than 546 million shares worth VND9.7 trillion (US$411 million), up around 15 per cent in both volume and value compared to the previous session.

Banks were mixed. While Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Sacombank (STB), Vietnam Maritime Bank (MSB) and LienVietPost Bank (LPB) were among the top 10 shares lifting the VN-Index most, Vietinbank (CTG), Techcombank (TCB), VPBank (VPB) and Eximbank (EIB) led the group of shares pulling the market most.

Shares related to public investment and construction were bright spots in the market on Tuesday.

Deo Ca Traffic Infrastructure Investment (HHV), Licogi 16 (LCG), Vinaconex (VCG) and Fecon Corporation (FCN) all hit the ceiling price of 7 per cent growth.

The gain spread to construction materials stocks, including iron and steel, cement and stone. Typically, Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Nam Kim Group (NKG increased between 1 per cent and 3 per cent.

According to Viet Dragon Securities Co, the market's gain continued to slow down when VN-Index approached the resistance area of 1,065 points and caused the index to retreat.

“Therefore, the risk at the resistance zone of 1,065-1,078 points is expected to present in the near future and the market may correct to find the balance zone after the recent rally,” Phuong Pham, a market analyst, said in a note.

She advised investors to be cautious as the market was moving close to the resistance zone and could take advantage of the upturn in the session to restructure the portfolio in the direction of minimising risks.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index recouped Monday’s loss with a growth of 0.46 per cent to end at 210.63 points. The northern bourse’s index gave up 0.5 per cent on Monday.

Liquidity also increased slightly here with 53 million shares worth VND893.5 billion being traded.

Foreign traders were net buyers on both exchanges, picking shares worth total net buy value of VND466 billion but their buys focused on HCM City’s shares with net value of VND438 billion. HPG topped their buy list with net value of more than VND100 billion. — VNS