Inside a factory of steelmaker Hoà Phát Group (HPG). HPG lost 2.8 per cent on Thursday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI —Vietnamese shares dropped on Thursday as large-cap stocks were hit by strong selling pressure, especially during the ATC session.

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) lost 0.41 per cent to end at 1,469.83 points.

The index had gained 0.64 per cent to close Wednesday at 1,475.85 points. 

The market's liquidity was neutral with 223 stocks rising, while 243 slid.

Investors poured over VNĐ34.9 trillion (US$1.5 billion) into the southern exchange, equivalent to a trading volume of 1.1 billion shares.

The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index lost 1.06 per cent, to end at 1,503.42 points. Twenty-three in the VN30 basket declined, while six increased.

In the VN-30 basket, notable losers included Vietinbank (CTG), FPT Corporation (FPT), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Hoà Phát Group (HPG), Masan Group (MSN), Khang Điền House (KDH), Novaland (NVL), Phát Đạt Real Estate (PDR), Phú Nhuận Jewelry (PNJ) and Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX),

The banking group performed poorly and pressured the overall market, such as Vietcombank (VCB), VPBank (VPB), Military Bank (MBB), Techcombank (TCB), Sabeco (SAB), and Sacombank (STB).

Securities was a strong supportive sector on HOSE this afternoon, with gainers such as SSI Securities Inc (SSI), Asia - Pacific Securities Joint Stock Company (APS), Hoà Bình Securities JSC (HBS), Viet Nam Industrial & Commercial Securities Corporation (VIG), Wall Street Securities Company (WSS), BOS Securities Corporation (ART), Agribank Securities Corporation (AGR), Tân Việt Securities (TVS) and APG Securities JSC (APG).

On a sector basis, 11 out of 25 sector indices lost ground, including wholesale, insurance, information and technology, oil and gas, banking, food and beverage, seafood processing, construction material and logistics.

On the other side, gainers were real estate, securities, retail, healthcare, agriculture and rubber production.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index gained 1.25 per cent to end Thursday at 468.73 points.

During the trading session, nearly 168.7 million shares were traded on HNX, worth nearly VNĐ2.3 trillion. — VNS