A customer holding a Vinamilk product at a supermarket. The dairy producer's shares lost more than 1.6 per cent on Friday, weighing on the market sentiment. Photo vinamilk.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — The market traded two different ways on Friday with the VN-Index failing to cross the psychological level of 1,200 points, as rising selling pressure outweighed demand for riskier assets.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) settled lower, ending a three-day gaining streak. Of which, the index declined by 3.71 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 1,194.76 points. In the morning trade, it moved up slightly to 1,199.9 points.

The market's breadth was still in a negative zone, as 279 stocks fell while 182 stocks inched higher. And liquidity continued to decrease, with over 477.9 million shares traded on the southern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ11 trillion (US$464.4 million).

The index's reversal was due to stronger selling force in the afternoon trade, causing losses in many large-cap stocks. 

Accordingly, the 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index plunged 6.41 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 1,228.84 points. In the VN30 basket, only seven ticker symbols ended higher, while 22 stocks dropped and one stock stayed flat. 

Of top five stocks dominating the downtrend, Vingroup (VIC) posted the biggest loss of the day, down 2.92 per cent. The other four stocks were in manufacturing and banking sectors, which were BIDV (BID), Hòa Phát Group (HPG), Vietinbank (CTG) and Vinamilk (VNM). These stocks went down in a range of 1.64-2.74 per cent.

The benchmark was cushioned by gains in some pillar stocks, led by PV GAS (GAS) with an increase of 3.55 per cent. It was followed by Becamex (BCM), Masan Group (MSN), Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB) and Techcombank (TCB), of which BCM hit the maximum intra-day gain of 7 per cent. 

On the contrary, the HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) ended higher on the last trading day of the week, up 0.74 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 288.83 points. 

More than VNĐ1.2 trillion worth of shares, equal to a trading volume of over 63.7 million stocks, was traded on the northern market. 

Foreign investors, meanwhile, continued to pour capital into the market, as they net bought a total of VNĐ378.06 billion on both main exchanges. Of which, they net bought VNĐ376.51 billion on HoSE and VNĐ1.55 billion on HNX. VNS