A condensed milk production line of Vinamilk. The dairy producer's shares declined more than 1.8 per cent on Monday, weighing the market's sentiment. Photo vinamilk.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Shares inched lower on Monday, but pared the morning losses as buyers took the chance to buy the dip.

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) fell by 11.77 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 1,270.8 points. The index lost more than 30 points in the morning trade.

The breadth of the market remained negative with nearly 400 stocks declining, while 73 stocks edged higher. However, liquidity improved, of which, matching value on HoSE increased by 28 per cent to VNĐ18.8 trillion (US$803 million), equal to a matching volume of 794 million shares.

Shares across many sectors shed points since the market opened as selling pressure rose.

The VN30-Index also dropped by 13.56 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 1,293.25 points. In the VN30 basket, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks on the southern bourse, only three stocks advanced while 24 stocks plunged. And three stocks ended flat.

Data compiled by the financial website vietstock.vn showed that Vingroup (VIC) led the market’s downside with a loss of 2.15 per cent.

Other ticker symbols in the top stocks influencing the trend were Vinamilk (VNM), Hoà Phát Group (HPG), Vinhomes (VHM) and Vietinbank (CTG). All the stocks posted a dip of at least 1 per cent.

However, losses were capped by gains in some stocks in the energy, fertiliser, retail and logistic industries. Accordingly, PV Gas (GAS) was the biggest gainer on Monday, up 2 per cent. Supporting the bullish sentiment, shares of Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), Petrovietnam Fertiliser & Chemicals Corporation (DPM), and Petro Việt Nam Cà Mau Fertiliser JSC (DCM) all witnessed strong performance, with DCM hitting the maximum daily gain of 7 per cent.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index decreased by nearly 4 points, or 1.32 per cent, to 295.54 points. It had fallen for the second day in a row.

During the session, over 129.7 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth more than VNĐ2.66 trillion.

Trading value on three exchanges totalled nearly VNĐ24.3 trillion, the highest since April. It was believed that the first day of the application of the T+2 settlement cycle was the reason behind the strong rise in liquidity. VNS