Vietnamese shares slid on Wednesday morning on weak market sentiment while trading liquidity remained low.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange ended at 966.79 points, almost unchanged from Tuesday's close of 967.00 points.

The benchmark index gained slightly by 0.12 per cent the previous day.

Nearly 79.6 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND1.6 trillion (US$69 million).

The stock market traded quietly as investors were unwilling to buy stocks amid the lack of good business news, the uncertainty of global markets and the upcoming week-long national holiday.

Declining stocks outnumbered gainers on the southern exchange by 165 to 112.

The large-cap VN30-Index slid 0.01 per cent while mid-cap and small-cap indices were up 0.37 per cent and 0.19 per cent, respectively.

Shares of banks, rubber producers, building material companies, power firms and parts suppliers advanced while declines were seen in food and beverage, securities, insurance, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index dropped 0.44 per cent to end at 102.90 points.

The northern market index had increased by a total of 3.02 per cent in four days between January 8 and January 14.

Nearly 14 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND170 billion.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS