PV Gas's LPG storage tanks. The company's shares dropped nearly 2 per cent yesterday, weighing on the market's sentiment. Photo courtesy of the company

HÀ NỘI — Shares tumbled for a second day this week but selling pressure reduced, cushioning the market downturn.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index decreased 0.67 per cent to close Tuesday at 1,166.54 points, widening the two-day loss to more than 3 per cent.

Liquidity dropped significantly with 466.6 million shares worth VNĐ10.6 trillion (US$449 million) being traded, down 38 per cent in volume and 40 per cent in value compared to Monday’s levels.

The market breadth was negative with 266 shares losing value while 183 gained and 160 closed flat.

Vingroup (VIC), Vinhomes (VHM) and PV Gas (GAS) were the three shares dragging the market most. VHM declined 3.2 per cent while VIC lost 1.8 per cent and GAS decreased 1.9 per cent. The VN-Index lost three points due to the slump of these three shares.

Other big losers included Vinamilk (VNM), down 2.2 per cent; Vietcombank (VCB), down 0.9 per cent; Đức Giang Chemical Group (DGC), down 4.9 per cent; Mobile World Investment (MWG), down 1.3 per cent; and FPT Corp (FPT), down 1.2 per cent.

On the bright side, the securities and banking sector recovered slightly with an average growth of 0.3 per cent each, contributing to easing investors’ nerves.

Gainers included Military Bank (MBB), BIDV (BID), Techcombank (TCB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), Hồ Chí Minh Securities Corp (HCM) and FPT Securities (FTS) with growth of less than 1 per cent each.

“Bottom-fishing cash flow showed signs of more active participation when VN-Index dropped deeply to the old bottom area of 1,160 points. However, the positive signs did not spread but concentrated in some stocks and some industry groups,” said Phuong Pham, a stock analyst at Viet Dragon Securities Co.

According to Phương, selling pressure may grow again when both VN-Index and VN30-Index approach the strong resistance zone of 1,200 points. With the potential weakening risk, investors should wait for more reliable market support signals to take action, while continuing to take advantage of short-term uptrend to increase the cash proportion and keep the portfolio at a safe level.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged down 0.06 per cent to end at 255.52 points. The northern market’s index slumped 3.3 per cent on Monday.

Liquidity almost halved here with just 49 million shares worth over VNĐ1 trillion being traded.

Foreign traders were net sellers on both exchanges, offloading shares worth net value of VNĐ401 billion. — VNS