HÀ NỘI – Shares on the HCM Stock Exchange gained ground after a slight decrease in morning trade, following the recovery of several large-cap stocks, while continued foreign selling kept weighing on the market.

The benchmark VN-Index, the measure of 311 stocks in the southern bourse, closed marginally unchanged at 659.7 points. It was down 1.1 per cent in the previous session.

On the smaller exchange in Hà Nội, the HNX-Index inched up 0.2 per cent to end yesterday at 83.9 points. The Index lost 1.2 per cent in the last two trades.

The market breadth was rather neutral with 209 stocks declining out of a total 690 codes and 199 advancing.

Some large-cap stocks rebounded in afternoon trade, which rescued the market from another fall.

Dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), the biggest listed stock with a market value of US$9.4 billion, recouped 2.6 per cent yesterday after losing a cumulative 4 per cent in the two previous settlements, finishing the trade at VNĐ144,900 ($6.50) per share.

However, the shares continued to top the foreign net sells by value yesterday at VNĐ65 billion ($3 million). On Monday, VNĐ100 billion worth of VNM shares were net sold by foreign investors.

The few gainers included insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), steelmaker Hòa Phát Group (HPG) and PV Gas (GAS).

On the other end of the spectrum, more than half of the top 10 stocks lost value, including the four biggest banks - Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG) and Military Bank (MBB), as well as the private equity Masan Group (MSN) and real estate developer VinGroup (VIC).

The foreign sector remained net sellers on the HCM City’s exchange with a net sell value of over VNĐ117 billion, lifting total net sell value to more than VNĐ1.4 trillion in the last 10 consecutive sessions.

Foreign investors collected shares worth a net value of VNĐ18 billion on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange. They picked a net buy value of VNĐ14 billion on Monday.

“Long-lasting selling pressure by foreign investors will likely cause market resistance,” stock analysts at FPT Securities Co wrote in a note.

The VNM exchange-traded fund (ETF) is expected to reduce its holding of Vietnamese shares by 1 per cent in third-quarter portfolio arrangement, equivalent to a net sell of $9.4 million, analysts said.

They said the market trend this week would depend on the next session and if the VN-Index extends losses, the market would likely stay in negative territory for the whole week.

Portfolio trading of big ETFs will finish by September 16.

Liquidity decreased with combined 125 million shares worth almost VNĐ2.7 trillion was traded in the two markets yesterday, down 10 per cent in both volume and value compared with Monday’s figures.