Workers checking products at a warehouse of Hoà Phát Group. The steel producer's shares jumped nearly 2 per cent on Tuesday, lifting the market's sentiment. — Photo hoaphat.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — The market was little changed on Tuesday with the VN-Index still hovering above the threshold of 1,200 points, while foreign investors were still net sellers.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) was holding steady, ending the trading day at 1,211.5 points, a slight fall of 0.31 points, or 0.03 per cent. The index lost more than 15 per cent on Monday on strong selling pressure.

The market's breadth remained in negative territory, with the number of decliners surpassing that of gainers.

Liquidity, however, soared above VNĐ20 trillion on the southern bourse today. Of which, the trading value on HoSE reached more than VNĐ23.3 trillion (US$956.4 million), up 18.1 per cent over the previous session. This was equal to a trading volume of over 1 billion shares.

The index's movement was cautch in a tug-of-war between investors' cautious sentiment and bargain-hunting activities after recent strong corrections.

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, traded higher at 1,225.5, an increase of 1.8 points, or 0.15 per cent. In the VN30 basket, 15 stocks ticked up, while 12 slid and three ended unchanged.

On the positive side, Hoà Phát Group (HPG) was the biggest gainer as shares of the leading steel producer posted an increase of nearly 2 per cent in market capitalisation.

It was followed by FPT Corporation (FPT), up 1.55 per cent, PV Gas (GAS) climbed 0.92 per cent, Vinhomes (VHM) rose 0.82 per cent, Đức Giang Chemicals Group (DGC) surged by 4.04 per cent, and Sacombank (STB) jumped 2.15 per cent.

Also contributing to the bullish trend, Vietnam Maritime Commercial Join Stock Bank (MSB), Hoa Sen Group (HSG), SSI Securities Corporation (SSI), and Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) gained in a range of 0.91-5.5 per cent.

In contrast, Vingroup (VIC), Vietcombank (VCB), and BIDV (BID) continued to lead the down side, falling 2.45 per cent, 0.79 per cent, and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

Saigon - Hanoi Securities JSC said that in the mid-term, the bullish trend is expected to extend, but the market is facing two key resistance areas of 1,250 points and 1,300 points. As a result, the VN-Index is likely to struggle and form an accumulated base before approaching these levels.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also finished lower today, down 0.26 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 250.22 points.

During the session, more than 93.6 million shares were traded on HNX, worth over VNĐ1.9 trillion.

Meanwhile, foreign investors kept running away from the market, as they net sold on both the main exchanges. Particularly, they net sold nearly VNĐ372 billion on HoSE and VNĐ4.76 billion on the northern exchange. — VNS