Customers perform transactions at Vietcombank's office. Shares of the lender dipped over 1.1 per cent on Wednesday, weighing on the market's sentiment. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

HÀ NỘI — The stock market barely changed on Wednesday after a strong rebound had taken the benchmark VN-Index back above the 1,800-point threshold.

On the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index fell over 1 point to 1,810.11 points.

The market's breadth was in negative territory, as 194 stocks declined while 116 inched higher. Liquidity continued to decrease from the previous session to VNĐ14.8 trillion (US$571 million).

Similarly, the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) also slipped slightly to 273.22 points, with nearly VNĐ736.1 billion worth of shares traded on the northern bourse.

Vietcombank (VCB) posted the strongest pressure on the VN-Index, taking over 1.2 points off the benchmark. PV Gas (GAS) cost the index nearly one point, while BIDV (BID) also weighed on the market.

The losses were limited by gains in some big names, which were led by SeABank (SSB). Shares of the lender hit the maximum daily gain of 7 per cent, contributing more than 1 point to the index. It was followed by Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Dien May Xanh (DMX), Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) and MBBank (MBB).

Oil and gas stocks continued to outperform as global crude prices climbed sharply.

PetroVietnam Refining and Petrochemical (BSR) gained 0.5 per cent, Petrolimex (PLX) advanced 2.3 per cent and PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation (PVT) rose nearly 2 per cent. PV Oil (OIL) and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) were also among the gainers.

The sector has maintained relatively broad gains over several recent sessions as oil prices continued to rise.

Brent crude settled 2.9 per cent higher at $108.75 a barrel on September 15, while West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 4.38 per cent to $105.83 a barrel.

Oil prices rose sharply after loading operations at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia's key Red Sea oil export hub, were temporarily suspended, adding to concerns over continued supply disruptions.

Meanwhile, the performance of financial, technology and property stocks was considerably more mixed.

Foreign investors remained net buyers despite the mixed performance of domestic equities. They recorded net purchases of over VNĐ221 billion on HoSE and VNĐ2.73 billion on HNX.

Sacombank (SBT) attracted the largest foreign net buying at over VNĐ216.5 billion, followed by technology company FPT with more than VNĐ117 billion and BSR with nearly VNĐ112.5 billion. — BIZHUB/VNS