HANOI – Shares retreated to a one-month low again yesterday as investors continued to sell shares on fears of further declines.

The benchmark VN-Index, the measure of 310 stocks on the HCM Stock Exchange gave up 0.7 per cent to fall to 627.4 points. The Index dropping below 630 points is considered an indicator of strong resistance showing investor pessimism in the market’s prospects.

The HNX-Index tracking 379 stocks on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange sank for the fifth consecutive day, inching down 0.1 per cent to close the session at 81.1 points.

Out of a total 689 stocks, 21.5 per cent advanced while 37.2 per cent declined.

Large-cap stocks continued to be the drag on the market as five of the top 10 largest stocks by market capitalization lost value, including real estate giant VinGroup (VIC) down 6 per cent, Vietcombank (VCB) down 2 per cent, lenders BIDV (BID) and Vietinbank (CTG) both down 1.2 per cent, and private equity firm Masan Group (MSN) down 0.8 per cent.

A slight recovery by dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) and software producer FPT Group (FPT) helped cushion the market.

“The market was very volatile with strong fluctuations during the trading session,” stock analysts at Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co wrote in a report.

They predicted the market would continue to be negative in the short-term period and the VN-Index could move around 620-640 points in the next two weeks.

Foreign trades were also negative yesterday as they concluded as net sellers in the HCM City’s market, responsible for a net sell value of VNĐ15.2 billion. Shares of VinGroup, Masan Group and Vietcombank were sold most heavily yesterday with a net value of nearly VNĐ34 billion, VNĐ19 billion and VNĐ12.4 billion, respectively.

By contrast, foreigners maintained their buys on the Hà Nội’s exchange, picking up 1.6 million shares worth a combined net value of nearly VNĐ27 billion.

Liquidity improved slightly with almost 168 million shares worth a combined VNĐ2.6 trillion (US$117 million) being traded on the two exchanges, up 10 per cent in volume and 8 per cent in value compared with Thursday’s figures.

Multi-sector company Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG) was the most active stock nationwide yesterday with trades of 7.4 million shares but its share price dived 5.6 per cent to close at VNĐ5,100 a share. – VNS