Vietnamese shares slid on Wednesday morning, dragged down by brokerages, petroleum firms and consumer staple companies.

The benchmark VN Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange inched down 0.05 per cent to end at 906.10 points.

The southern market index was down 0.49 per cent on Tuesday.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange dropped 0.27 per cent to close at 102.26 points.

The northern market index lost 0.80 per cent on Tuesday.

Liquidity remained low with nearly 81 million shares being traded on the two local exchanges, worth VND1.41 trillion (US$60.8 million).

Securities companies, petroleum firms and consumer staple producers were the major causes of the market’s decline on Wednesday morning.

The three sector indices fell by between 0.1 and 0.2 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

Large-cap stocks also underperformed with the blue-chip VN30 Index recording a slight 0.01 per cent slide to 859.06 points.

Of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 basket, 14 declined while 12 advanced.

On the opposite side, property developers, technology firms, seafood processors and agricultural companies advanced to support the market.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS