Workers check products at a Hoa Sen Group warehouse. The steel producer's shares hit the ceiling price on Monday, cushioning the market's losses. — Photo courtesy of Hoa Sen Group

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese market extended losses on Monday despite gains in steel stocks, while foreign investors continued their net selling streak on two main exchanges. 

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index declined by 5.14 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 1,274.77 points, falling for the second straight day. 

The market breadth was negative as the number of decliners surpassed that of gainers by 191 to 145. Liquidity, however, remained high, with a trading value on the southern bourse of nearly VNĐ23 trillion (US$903.2 million).

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks in term of market capitalisation on the HoSE, also dipped 6.76 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 1,309.7 points. Up to 20 ticker symbols on the VN30 basket ticked down, while eight inched higher and two stayed flat. 

Leading the downtrend were big names in banking, gas and oil, information technology and manufacturing. BIDV (BID) posted the biggest loss, down 2.1 per cent. 

It was followed by PV Gas (GAS), FPT Corporation (FPT), Masan Group (MSN) and Vietcombank (VCB). All the stocks fell in a range of 0.5-2.3 per cent.

Securities shares were also weighed down by selling forces, with Hồ Chí Minh Securities Corporation (HCM) down 1.56 per cent, SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) falling 0.55 per cent, Saigon - Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS) down 1.07 per cent, and VNDirect Securities Corporation (VND) decreasing nearly 2 per cent.

Adding to the losses, real estate stocks saw some corrections. Development Investment Construction JSC (DIG) dropped 1.5 per cent, Đất Xanh Group (DXG) tumbled 1.82 per cent and Phát Đạt Real Estate Development JSC (PDR) lost 2.34 per cent. 

The market pared some losses on gains led by steel producers. 

Hòa Phát Group (HPG) was the biggest gainer in market capitalisation, up 1.2 per cent. Other names in the industry, including Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Nam Kim Group (NKG), also performed well, with HSG logging the maximum daily rise of 7 per cent. 

Shares in the industry lifted after an announcement by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) initiating an anti-dumping investigation into certain coated steel products imported from China and South Korea. 

The decision is expected to provide positive support for domestic steel stocks and the local industry in the future. 

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) also finished lower at 243.16 points, down 0.81 points, or 0.33 per cent. Investors poured nearly VNĐ1.6 trillion into the northern exchange, equivalent to a trading volume of 73.1 million shares. 

Meanwhile, foreign investors were still net sellers on the two main exchanges, net selling a value of VNĐ791 billion on HoSE and nearly VNĐ26 billion on HNX. — VNS