Vietnamese shares traded in negative territory on Thursday morning as worries about the downtrend of the global economy hit local market sentiment.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange fell 0.37 per cent to close at 965.36 points.

The VN-Index was up 0.22 per cent on Wednesday.

More than 88 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND1.9 trillion (US$81 million).

Overall confidence was dampened as global stocks moved down overnight Wednesday on worries about global economic issues.

Sectors that pulled the market up on Wednesday such as technology, securities, real estate, retail, and food and beverage turned negative on Thursday morning.

Large-cap stocks struggled and the blue-chip VN30-Index dropped 0.46 per cent to end at 876.44 points.

On the derivatives market, the VN30F1908 futures that expire on August 19 lost 0.56 per cent to 872.70 points.

Other VN30 futures that expire in September, December and March next year also fell.

This indicated investors were expecting the market to decline in the short term.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index decreased by 1.08 per cent to end at 100.88 points.

The northern market index had fallen a total 0.81 per cent in the previous two days.

More than 17.6 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND239.6 billion.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS