A Mobile World store in Hà Nội. MWG was one of the stocks behind the market slump yesterday. Photo vietnambiz.vn

HÀ NỘI — The market settled lower yesterday, driven largely by the bearish sentiment toward food and drink stocks.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE), the VN-Index shed its morning gains and began a downward trend at around 1.30pm. In the last minutes of the session, it suddenly ballooned on the back of a short-lived buying force but the buy-in was not large enough to lift it above the reference line.

VN-Index ended the session at 1,065.85 points, down 4.79 points (0.45 per cent) compared to the previous session. 

HOSE-listed decliners outnumbered advancers by 212 to 128, with four stocks hitting ceiling prices and five at rock bottom. HOSE was busy with nearly VNĐ11.8 trillion (US$500 million) worth of shares traded.  

"Money keeps flowing to the market, indicating that the Sell in May adage might not hold true this time", said an analyst.

The VN30-Index echoed the VN-Index pattern. It lost 5.69 points (0.53 per cent) to close at 1068.05 points. In the basket, six stocks climbed, none stayed unchanged, and 24 fell.

Petro Vietnam Gas (GAS) led the market downturn with a fall of 1.58 per cent. Other stocks behind the bearish trend included BIDV (BID), Vinamilk (VNM), Masan Group (MSN), Vinhomes (VHM), and Vietcombank (VCB). 

Food and drink was the sector on the decline yesterday as it lost 1.30 per cent on the bearish vibes. In the sector, Vinamilk (VNM) dropped by 1.76 per cent, followed by Sabeco (SAB) and Masan Group (MSN).

Retail was the next sector dragging down indices as it saw lots of red on the screen. Major decliners included Mobile World (MWG) and FPT Retail (FRT). Analysts believe 2023 would be a tough year for the mobile phone segment as heavyweights have been forced into harsh competition, a lose-lose situation for all. 

Upbeat investors put their bullish bets on insurance stocks yesterday as the stocks were a bright spot in the market. Notably, Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) rose by 1.83 per cent and Vietnam National Reinsurance (VNR) by 0.82 per cent. 

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) fell yesterday, losing 0.11 points (0.05 per cent) to end at 215.79 points. 

Foreign investors withdrew their money from the market as they net-sold a total of around VNĐ603.66 billion worth of shares on the two exchanges. Of which, they net sold VNĐ605.08 billion on HoSE and net bought VNĐ1.42 billion on HNX. — VNS