The entrance of Times City urban complex, which is owned by Vingroup, in Hà Nội. The property developer's shares climbed 1.23 per cent on Thursday, cushioning the market's losses. — Photo vinhomesgardeniacity.com

HÀ NỘI — Shares were mixed on Thursday, causing the market benchmark VN-Index to fall for the second day in a row, while foreign investors reversed course to net buy on the southern exchange. 

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index extended losses to close the trading day at 1,283.8 points, down 2.14 points, or 0.17 per cent. 

The market's breadth, however, was still in positive territory as the number of gainers surpassed that of losers by 168 to 153. Liquidity dropped 15 per cent from the previous session to over VNĐ18.5 trillion (US$728.2 million).

The main cause for the down movement was losses in blue-chip stocks.

Statistics showed that a staggering 25 out of 30 stocks in the blue-chip basket witnessed price declines in the afternoon session.

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks by market capitalitation on the HoSE, also performed negatively. It declined 4.69 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 1,306.22 points. This is its lowest close in six sessions.

Up to 18 ticker symbols in the VN30 basket ticked down, while eight finished higher and four ended flat. 

Two pillar stocks, Vingroup (VIC) and Vinhomes (VHM), closed higher, with gains of 1.23 per cent and 0.52 per cent, respectively. However, the remaining eight stocks in the top ten market in terms of capitalisation experienced declines. 

Among the few stocks that performed well in the afternoon, Petrolimex (PLX) recorded a 0.54 per cent increase. 

Securities stocks also showed resilience, with SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) rising 1.31 per cent, MB Securities JSC (MBS) up 3.87 per cent, VIX Securities JSC (VIX) climbed 1.18 per cent and Hồ Chí Minh Securities Corporation (HCM) increased 1.44 per cent.

By contrast, the HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) finished higher on Thursday, up 0.85 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 245.39 points. 

During the session, VNĐ1.47 trillion was poured into the northern bourse, equivalent to a trading volume of 65.47 million shares. 

Foreign capital unexpectedly returned to the southern market today as foreign investors net bought nearly VNĐ5.7 billion on HoSE. However, they still net sold over VNĐ7.6 billion worth of stocks on HNX. — VNS