The Landmark 81 building, a project developed by Vingroup, in HCM City. Shares of the conglomerate dipped nearly 3.5 per cent on Thursday, leading the market's downtrend. — Photo vingroup.net

HÀ NỘI — The market benchmark VN-Index opened October with a sharp decline as selling pressure intensified in real estate and other large-cap stocks, while energy shares moved against the broader market trend.

On the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index fell 19.32 points, or 1.09 per cent, to close at 1,749.30 points. Market breadth showed 177 decliners and 110 gainers.

Total trading volume reached over 638.4 million shares, equivalent to VNĐ15.35 trillion (US$591 million).

Vingroup (VIC) was the biggest drag on the benchmark, taking 12.52 points off the VN-Index. Other major negative contributors included Sacombank (STB), which reduced the index by 1.40 points, LPBank (LPB) by 1.21 points, BIDV (BID) by 0.81 points, Vietcombank (VCB) by 0.70 points and Gelex Electric (GEE) by 0.54 points.

Energy stocks moved in the opposite direction to much of the market, while Masan High-Tech Materials (MSR) gained sharply amid a large negotiated transaction involving its shares.

MSR rose 5.4 per cent to VNĐ58,600 per share, having approached its ceiling price of VNĐ63,900 during the session.

A negotiated transaction involving more than 55.1 million MSR shares took place in the morning trade, representing 4.99 per cent of the company's charter capital. The shares were traded at VNĐ58,760 each, bringing the transaction value to nearly VNĐ3.24 trillion.

The transaction volume matched the stake that The Elmet Group Co. planned to acquire in MSR. According to filings disclosed in the US, The Elmet Group had signed an agreement to purchase 4.99 per cent of MSR, equivalent to 55,138,174 shares, for approximately $124.75 million.

Meanwhile, Phu Nhuan Jewellery (PNJ) continued to face heavy selling pressure, hitting its floor price for a fourth consecutive session.

The jewellery retailer fell 7 per cent to VNĐ24,750 per share, with more than 37.7 million shares queued for sale at the floor price and no buy orders.

PNJ's market capitalisation consequently declined to around VNĐ12.7 trillion, shedding more than VNĐ4.2 trillion in just four sessions.

Across eight consecutive declining sessions, from VNĐ36,950 on September 22 to VNĐ24,750 on October 1, PNJ shares lost approximately 33 per cent. The closing price was also the stock's lowest level in more than six years.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also declined 3 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 268.66 points. Investors poured nearly VNĐ653.6 billion on the northern bourse, equal to a trading volume of more than 42.5 million shares.

Foreign investors extended their selling spree, offloading VNĐ63.47 billion on HoSE and VNĐ6.3 billion on HNX. — BIZHUB/VNS