HÀ NỘI – Vietnamese shares yesterday again closed mixed on the two local exchanges, erasing gains made earlier during the day while a recent sharp increase in oil prices boosted energy stocks.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched down 0.2 per cent to close at 610.82 points, down a total of 0.5 per cent in the last two sessions.

Meanwhile, the HNX Index rose 0.3 per cent to finish at 81.27 points, extending a gain of 1.3 per cent for a third day.

“The declines in blue chips continued to drive the VN Index down for a second day,” Maritime Securities Inc (MSI) wrote in its report.

Those blue chips included dairy firm Vinamilk, food producer Masan Group, the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank) and insurer Bảo Việt Holdings.

At the end of the day, Vinamilk (VNM) edged down 0.7 per cent, Masan Group (MSN) fell 2.1 per cent, Vietcombank (VCB) dropped 0.8 per cent and Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) lost 2.5 per cent.

Additionally, steel producers such as the Hòa Phát Group (HPG), Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Tiến Lên Steel Group JSC (TLH) and Vietnam-Germany Steel Pipe JSC (VGS) continued their corrections after rising strongly over the last few months.

Steel company stocks achieved such high gains recently as demand for steel products to supply property projects rose during the first four months of the year, Bảo Việt Securities Corp (BVSC) wrote in its report.

However, listed steel companies may suffer losses as of May because demand for construction will decline due to the rainy season, leading to lower steel production, BVSC said.

At the end of the day, HPG was down 2.1 per cent, HSG dipped 2.9 per cent, TLH slumped 6.8 per cent and VGS fell 5.5 per cent.

The markets were also pulled down by the agricultural sector, represented by Hoàng Anh Gia Lai JSC (HAG) and its subsidiary HAGL Agricultural JSC (HNG).

On the opposite side, energy stocks continued their good form on recent gains in global oil prices.

US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped 1.3 per cent to trade at US$46.08 a barrel, however, US crude has posted an increase of 6.1 per cent during the week.

Local energy stocks such as PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS) and PetroVietnam Technical Service Corp (PVS) gained between 2.3 per cent and 4 per cent.

Both local markets traded more than 153.2 million shares worth nearly VNĐ2.5 trillion (US$111 million), an increase of 5.5 per cent from Thursday’s trading value. – VNS