Customers at Vietinbank's transaction office. The bank's shares jumped 1.66 per cent yesterday, cushioning the market's downtrend. Photo baochinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — The stock market was down slightly yesterday with both benchmark indices lower due to weak risk appetite. 

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) fell 1.22 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 1,248 points. This ended the two-day rally. 

The market’s breadth was in a negative zone with 262 stocks declining, while 184 stocks inched up. However, liquidity improved compared to the previous session, of which matching value on the southern bourse increased by 1 per cent to over VNĐ10.1 trillion (US$431 million).

The index’s movement was due to risk-off sentiment with many big stocks facing a sell-off. The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index also finished lower at 1,272.48 points, a decrease of 3.12 points, or 0.24 per cent.

Data compiled by financial website vietstock.vn showed that realty, manufacturing and banking sectors influenced the market’s downside. Accordingly, Vinhomes (VHM) posted the worst performance, down 1.14 per cent. It was followed by Sabeco (SAB), Vietcombank (VCB), Masan Group (MSN), and Phát Đạt Real Estate Development JSC (PDR), down in a range of 0.63-3.36 per cent.

However, the index pared some losses on gains in other big ticker symbols. Of which, Vietinbank (CTG) was the biggest gainer on Tuesday, up 1.66 per cent. Other stocks that cushioned the bearish trend were PV Gas (GAS), Becamex (BCM), Vinamilk (VNM) and PV Drilling (PVD).

Similarly, the HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) dropped by 1.49 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 281.59 points, marking its second losing session. 

During the session, over VNĐ1.4 trillion worth of shares were traded on HNX, equivalent to a trading volume of 62.2 million shares. 

Foreign investors were net sellers on the southern bourse after withdrawing VNĐ265.28 billion. However, they net bought VNĐ48.42 billion on HNX. VNS