Vinamilk's canned milk production line in Bình Dương Province. Shares of the dairy producer led the market's downtrend on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Shares were mixed on Thursday as a profit-taking came to the fore after recent rallies weighed on the market.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) finished the day at 1,283.56 points, down 0.79 points, or 0.06 per cent. The reversal ended a three-day rising streak.

On the southern bourse, the breadth was negative as 165 stocks ticked down while 154 increased. Liquidity hovered above VNĐ22 trillion (US$861.5 million) but decreased by 7.6 per cent from the previous session.

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE by market capitalisation, increased 2.26 per cent, or 0.2 per cent, to 1,302.28 points. The number of gainers surpassed decliners in the VN30 basket by 12 to 10, while eight stocks ended flat.

Large-cap stocks in manufacturing and real estate sectors led the market's downturn with Việt Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (VNM) posting the biggest fall in the market capitalisation, down 1.9 per cent.

It was followed by Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN), Vingroup Joint Stock Company (VIC), Vietnam Rubber Group - Joint Stock Company (GVR), Vinhomes JSC (VHM) and Đức Giang Chemicals Group JSC (DGC). All the stocks dipped in a range of 0.6-4.2 per cent.

However, losses were capped by gains in banking stocks, led by Sài Gòn Thương Tín Commercial Joint Stock Bank (STB), which was up 3.72 per cent, contributing more than 0.5 point to the VN-Index. It was followed by Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TCB) posting an increase of 1.05 per cent and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) which rose 0.52 per cent.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index finished lower at 244.18 points. Nearly 68 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth more than VNĐ1.4 trillion.

Foreign investors returned to the previous trend of strong capital withdrawal on Thursday with a net selling on HoSE of more than VNĐ741 billion. — VNS