A GVR worker pours latex rubber into buckets. GVR was one of the stocks behind the market slump on Wednesday. — Photo vnrubbergroup.com

HÀ NỘI — Stocks closed on a bearish note on Wednesday despite the State Bank of Vietnam's expansionary stance on policy rates.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE), the VN-Index started off the afternoon below the reference line and soared above the line at around 1:30pm on short-lived buying force. After reaching its peak at 1:45pm, it quickly lost steam and entered a downward trend toward the end of the session.

VN-Index ended at 1,061.79 points, down 4.06 points (0.38 per cent) compared to the previous session.

HOSE was overrun by decliners with 171 stocks losing points, against 149 gaining. Ten stocks hit ceiling prices whereas one sat at the other end. The exchange was busy with nearly VNĐ11.4 trillion (US$484 million) worth of shares being traded.

"Announcements about the policy cuts would not lift sentiment in the short term as the move has been well anticipated by investors," said an analyst.

The VN30-Index followed the VN-Index pattern. It lost 6.50 points (0.61 per cent) to end at 1,061.55 points. In the basket, five stocks rose, two stayed unchanged, and 23 fell.

Hòa Phát Group (HPG) led the market slump with a fall of 1.84 per cent. Other stocks weighing down indices included Techcombank (TCB), BIDV (BID), Vinamilk (VNM), PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), and Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR).

By sector, construction materials lurched downward on Wednesday as it shed 1.54 percentage points on the downbeat sentiment. In the sector, Hoa Sen Group (HSG) dropped by 2.19 per cent, followed by Vicostone (VCS) and Pomina Steel (POM).

Plastics was the next sector dragging down indices as it saw lots of red on the screen. Major decliners included Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Đức Giang Chemicals (DGC), and PetroVietnam Camau Fertilizer (DCM).

Upbeat investors put their bullish bets on real estate stocks on Wednesday as they were a bright spot in the market. In the sector, the trio stocks of the Vin family - Vinhomes (VHM), Vingroup (VIC), and Vincome Retail (VRE) - saw mixed results: The first gained 1.49 per cent, the second remained flat, whereas the third lost 0.18 per cent.

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) bucked the bearish trend with a rise of 0.17 points (0.08 per cent) to end at 215.96 points.

Foreign investors withdrew their money from the market as they net-sold a total of around VNĐ555.56 billion worth of shares on the two exchanges. Of which, they net sold VNĐ569.86 billion on HoSE and net bought VNĐ14.3 billion on HNX. — VNS