At a transaction office of Vietinbank. The lender's shares fell 0.71 per cent on Thursday, weighing on the market's sentiment. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

HÀ NỘI — Benchmark indices were mixed on Thursday as selling pressure weighed on large-cap stocks, particularly real estate shares, pulling the VN-Index below the 1,900-point mark.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index fell 16.34 points, or 0.85 per cent, to close at 1,896.89 points. By contrast, the HNX-Index rose 3.04 points, or 1.16 per cent, to 264.37 points.

HoSE recorded a trading value of VNĐ22 trillion (US$836 million), with more than 677 million shares traded. Market breadth remained negative as declining stocks outnumbered gainers.

The VN-Index’s decline was driven mainly by selling in pillar stocks. The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 largest stocks on HoSE, slipped 1.43 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 2,027.51 points. Sixteen stocks in the VN30 basket advanced while 14 declined.

In particular, Vingroup (VIC) was the biggest drag on the market, wiping nearly 13 points from the benchmark index. VIC closed down 3.53 per cent at VNĐ218,700 per share.

Other Vin-related stocks also traded lower, with Vinhomes (VHM) and Vincom Retail (VRE) declining. Vinpearl (VPL), however, bucked the trend, rising 2.07 per cent.

Other major stocks weighing on the market included PV Gas (GAS), Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Petrovietnam Refining and Petrochemical Corporation (BSR), FPT Corporation (FPT), VietinBank (CTG) and Sacombank (STB).

Helping cushion the index, retail stocks emerged as a bright spot, with Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) gaining nearly 3 per cent. MWG was the strongest positive contributor to the VN30-Index.

In the industrial sector, PC1 Group (PC1) drew attention after hitting the daily ceiling.

The stock entered a recovery phase following a sharp earlier decline linked to reports concerning company leadership. Within a month, PC1 shares reportedly lost around 40 per cent after rumours emerged about possible criminal proceedings involving company executives. However, over the past three sessions, the stock has rebounded about 15 per cent, including two ceiling-limit sessions with strong liquidity.

Meanwhile, Duc Giang Chemicals (DGC) fell 1.64 per cent, marking a third straight losing session. The decline followed HoSE’s adjustment, transferring DGC from the supervised trading category to a restricted trading regime.

Foreign investors returned to net selling on HoSE, offloading shares worth nearly VNĐ1.7 trillion. They also recorded net sales of nearly VNĐ18 billion on HNX. — BIZHUB/VNS