Vietnam Rubber Group's workers collect milk latex. The company's shares lost 2.8 per cent yesterday. Photo vnrubbergroup.com

HÀ NỘI — Shares retreated on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange on Tuesday as selling pressure increased strongly towards the end of the session.

The VN-Index lost more than 10 points, or 0.69 per cent, to close the day at 1,466.45 points. The index increased 0.2 per cent on Monday.

The slump of heavyweight stocks was behind the downfall. Steelmaker Hòa Phát Group (HPG) was among the biggest decliners, down nearly 3 per cent, followed by Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), down 2.8 per cent, Vinhomes (VHM), down 1.2 per cent and PV Gas (GAS), down 1.9 per cent. These four stocks alone were responsible for half of the VN-Index’s loss.

Financial stocks also underperformed when leading stocks such as Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), TienPhongBank (TPB), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and VNDirect Securities (VND) all sank in the red. Only some closed flat or increased slightly. Only insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) climbed 3 per cent while Military Bank (MBB) and Sacombank (STB) increased 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

On the bright side, logistics and transportation groups were big gainers with more than 30 stocks gaining value. Port of Hải Phòng (PHP), Vietnam Airlines (HVN), Gemadept Corp (GMD), Hải An Transport and Stevedoring (HAH), Đà Nẵng Port (CDN) and Vietnam Ocean Shipping (VOS) leapt between 2 and 7 per cent each.

Liquidity was maintained at a high level, however, with more than 1.2 billion shares worth VNĐ34.8 trillion (US$1.5 billion) traded, slightly up compared to the previous session.

By contrast, on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index gained 1.79 per cent to end the session at 452.25 points, extending its rallying streak to nine consecutive rising sessions.

The northern bourse’s index has climbed nearly 27 per cent since early October with only three declines out of 33 sessions.

Liquidity decreased, however, with nearly 194 million shares worth VNĐ4.6 trillion, down 8.5 per cent in volume and 11.7 per cent in value compared to Monday’s figures.

Foreign traders remained being net buyers on both exchanges, picking up shares worth a net buy value of VNĐ307 billion.

According to Viet Dragon Securities (VDSC), the stock market continued to diverge and showed signs of profit taking. Many pennies and midcaps still maintained their upward momentum but investors need to be careful with this group of stocks to avoid short-term risks.

“Although the market still maintains its uphill momentum, the increasing force is gradually weakening. We also need to pay attention to having a reasonable defence strategy,” Bao Nguyen, VDSC’s stock analyst said in the company’s report. — VNS