A worker at a steel mill of Hoà Phát Group (HPG). HPG lost 1.7 per cent on Friday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI The market declined slightly on Friday, dragged down by the banking and steel industries pressured by strong selling force.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index edged down 0.35 per cent to close at 1,269.18 points.

The index closed Thursday at 1,273.66 points, down 0.13 per cent compared to the previous session.

Market breadth was negative with 338 decliners and 124 gainers.

Liquidity increased compared to Thursday with 607.6 million shares traded on the southern exchange, worth VNĐ14.9 trillion (US$636.6 million).

The VN30-Index echoed the VN-Index pattern. It lost 0.38 per cent to reach 1,294.93 points. In the basket, six stocks climbed, two stayed flat and 22 slid.

Banking was leading the market's fall with most of the stocks in the basket declining, including Vietinbank (CTG), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Vibank (VIB) and Tiên Phong Bank (TPB), all losing more than 1 per cent. National Commercial Joint Stock Bank (NVB) alone fell more than 6 per cent.

The securities group was also hit strongly with two giants SSI Securities Inc (SSI) and VNDirect Securities Co (VND) dropping.

The steel industry performed poorly with all three giants Hoà Phát Group (HPG), Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Nam Kim Group (NKG) all falling deeply.

“Market rallied unsuccessfully and retreated as demand for high prices was still prudent. VN-Index continued to be resisted when the market rose above 1,280 points. This shows that cash flow is not yet ready to bring the market to a new high,” said Việt Dragon Securities Co in a daily report.

“However, the supply pressure in general is still not too strong, reflected in the low liquidity. It’s expected that cautious movements and exploration of supply and demand will linger in the next session with a gap area of 1,262 – 1,268.

“Therefore, investors should slow down to observe the money flow signal at the support area, and concurrently should limit chasing and waiting for profit taking."

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) lost 1.08 per cent to close Friday at 297.94 points.

The index had lost 0.46 per cent to close Thursday at 301.19 points.

Nearly 78.6 million shares were traded on the northern exchange, worth VNĐ1.5 trillion. — VNS