Viet Nam’s benchmark VN Index was steady on Thursday morning despite investors’ profit-making that hit large-cap stocks.

The benchmark index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched 0.16 per cent to close at 1,039.78 points. It had gained a total of 2.5 per cent in the previous three sessions.

The minor HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange lost 0.14 per cent to end at 121.75 points, extending its decline from a 0.18 per cent fall on Wednesday.

Nearly 242 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth VND5.27 trillion (US$234.3 million).

Large-cap shares underperformed as the VN30 Index, tracking the performance of the 30 largest companies by market capitalisation, was down 0.25 per cent to 1,037.14 points, with 21 declining stocks.

The worst-performing stocks in the VN30 basket were Coteccons Construction (CTD), steel producers Hoa Phat (HPG) and Hoa Sen (HSG), Vietinbank (CTG) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD).

On a sector basis, all industries that saw share prices going up in the previous sessions turned down on Thursday morning.

Those decliners included financial-banking-brokerage, energy, rubber and building material production.

On the opposite side, real estate shares remained positive in the hope of good quarterly and yearly earnings reports.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. – VNS