A Vincom Plaza shopping and entertainment complex run by Vincom Retail in the southern city of Cần Thơ. The company’s shares fell 1.2 per cent on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese stock market settled lower on Wednesday, ending its two-day gaining streak due to the slump of heavy-weight stocks.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) lost 0.09 per cent, to close at 1,172.98 points. The index had gained 0.05 per cent in the last two sessions.

More stocks moved to the downside on the southern bourse, of which 185 stocks inched higher, while 276 stocks finished lower.

Liquidity declined compared to the previous session, with more than 897 million shares traded on HoSE, worth nearly VNĐ17.7 trillion (US$748.6 million).

The benchmark index was pressured by losses in large-cap stocks, with the 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index posting a decrease 0.14 per cent, to 1,165.19 points. Eight stocks in the VN30 basket jumped, while 19 stocks slid. And three stocks ended flat.

Traders taking profit after days of upside was blamed for the decline of the stock market as it strongly hit large-cap stocks, which had played an important part in pushing up the benchmark VN Index.

The worst performers in the VN-30 basket were still pillar stocks in banking and retail industries, including Vincom Retail (VRE), losing 1.2 per cent, FPT Corporation (FPT) dropping 0.2 per cent, and VPBank (VPB) and MB Bank (MBB) down 1.4 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.

Securities stocks decreased towards the end of the session. The VN-Index's loss was significantly broadened as securities stocks declined strongly, such as VNDirect Securities Corporation (VND), Saigon-Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS), Việt Capital Incorporation (VCI), Agribank Securities Corporation (AGR) and APG Securities Joint Stock Company (APG).

Energy stocks also performed negatively with losers such as Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD) and Drilling Mud Joint Stock Corporation (PVC).

“The market is still in a state of hesitation and exploration. With this signal, it will move slowly and continue to explore supply and demand. Therefore, investors still need to observe market movements to assess the effort of cash flow,” said Việt Dragon Securities Co.

“At present, it is possible to continue holding stocks with good signals from the accumulation base, however, it is necessary to consider taking profits from stocks that have risen rapidly to the resistance zone or are under selling pressure,” it said.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index finished higher. It gained 0.22 per cent, to 231.47 points.

During the session, VNĐ1.6 trillion worth of shares, equivalent to a trading volume of nearly 91.3 million shares, was traded on the northern market. — VNS