Heavy profit-taking pressure put a brake on the recent winning stretch for Viet Nam’s stock market on Monday while oil shares bucked the trend, driven by rising prices in the world market.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange lost more than 15 points, or 1.11 per cent, to close Monday at 1,358.78 points. The southern bourse’s index had risen 5.4 per cent in the previous six consecutive sessions.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell harder, giving up 3.38 per cent to end the trade at 318.63 points.

Liquidity remained high with more than 1.1 billion shares worth VND34.5 trillion (US$1.5 billion) traded on the two markets.

Banking and securities stocks were among the biggest losers. After a long rally, investors increased sales in these groups to take profit, pushing them into the red.

Big influencers in the market included BIDV (BID), Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), Techcombank (TCB), TienPhongBank (TPB), Military Bank (MBB), Sacombank (STB) and Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), all losing more than 1 per cent

No securities shares gained, some even hit the floor prices such as Bao Viet Securities (BVS), Wall Street Securities (WSS), Asia Pacific Securities (APS), BOS Securities (ART) and Vietnam Bank for Industry & Trade Securities (CTS).

Big broker houses such as Ho Chi Minh Securities (HCM), VNDriect Securities (VND) and FPT Securities (FTS) also decreased sharply by more than 5 per cent.

On the other end of spectrum, oil shares sustained their growth. Gainers included PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services (PVD), Petroleum Equipment Assembly & Metal Structure (PXS) and PetroVietnam Chemial and Service (PVC) with growth of between 4.7 per cent and 9.6 per cent.

Oil prices have climbed to more than two-year highs in the world.

Brent topped $72 a barrel for the first time since 2019 last week while US crude gained 43 per cent this year to the highest since October 2018.

Foreign traders were net sellers on both exchanges on Monday, offloading shares worth a net sell value of VND704 billion.

In fact, foreign investors have been net sellers for a long time. Their net sell value in May reached VND11.5 trillion, lifting total net sell value in the first five months to VND25.8 trillion ($1.1 billion).

According to Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), the current market size and quality have changed substantially, thus the impact of foreign capital inflows on the domestic market may be weakened. However, if foreign traders continue their net withdrawal trend, it should be a worrisome market indicator.

Many market insiders have warned the stock market is overheating and posing a downturn risk.

The VN-Index has climbed by 23.6 per cent and the HNX-Index has risen 40.5 per cent this year, which may trigger short-term profit-taking pressure.

“Investors should prioritise holding profits while the VN-Index moves toward the 1,400-point area and get back to find opportunity around the support zone of 1,350 points and 1,300 points when a correcting phase takes place,” SSI’s analysts said in a note. — VNS