Vietnamese shares continued to fall sharply on Thursday morning as investor sentiment remained poor following the market’s latest dive.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange dropped 1.33 per cent to close at 1,020.06 points. It had dropped total 2.7 per cent in the previous two sessions.

The minor HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange lost nearly 1 per cent to end at 119.26 points after having seen a two-day decrease of 1.3 per cent.

More than 214.8 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth nearly VND5 trillion (US$221.3 million).

The number of declining stocks tripled that of gainers on the two local exchanges by 314 to 103.

Except for seafood and machinery industries, the other 18 sectors extended their negative performance from Wednesday.

Real estate, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, rubber production, energy and brokerages were among the worst-performing sectors on the stock market.

The top 10 largest stocks by market capitalisation also declined, including brewer Sabeco (SAB), food and beverage producer Masan (MSN), PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) and petrol dealer Petrolimex (PLX).

According to Bao Viet Securities Company, the VN Index is forecast to continue its short-term correction in the next few trading days.

The afternoon trade session starts at 1pm. — VNS