HÀ NỘI – Shares declined yesterday afternoon as investors increased selling on uncertainty of the market’s outlook.

The VN-Index, the measure of 315 stocks on the HCM Stock Exchange, erased earlier gains to close flat at 674.6 points. The index has increased over 0.3 per cent in the last two sessions.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched 0.24 per cent to end at 80.9 points. It rose 0.3 per cent in the previous three days.

Overall conditions were negative, with 263 out of total 692 stocks declining, while only 177 advanced.

Large-cap stocks led the downturn as 20 of the top 30 biggest stocks by market capitalisation lost value and only six advanced.

Losers included big financial companies and banks such as the second biggest listed lender Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID) and Vietinbank (CTG), real estate firms such as HCM City Infrastructure Investment (CII), HCM Securities Inc (SHB) and Tân Tạo Investment Industry (ITA) and Kinh Bắc City Development (CII).

On the bright side, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG) and its agribusiness arm Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Agricultural (HNG) continued to rise and supported the market together with the growth of Masan Group (MSN) and Mobile World Group (MWG).

“Slight gains of stock indices accompanied by average liquidity show that the VN-Index would likely continue moving sideways at around 665-680 points,” stock analysts at Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co wrote in a report.

The VN-Index has been swinging between 665-680 points since the end of last month after hitting the year’s peak of 689 points on October 19.

Low priced stocks continued to attract money inflows such as FLC Group (FLC), Tân Tạo Investment Industry (ITA), Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG), Hà Nội – Kinh Bắc Agriculture and Food (HKB), Vietnam Enterprise Investment and Development (FID) and C.E.O Group (CEO) and Bình Thuận Mineral (KSA).

All of these stocks were among the top five most heavily-traded shares on the two exchanges, with between two million and 17 million traded on each stock.

Liquidity was nearly unchanged compared to the previous session with over 168 million shares worth VNĐ2.6 trillion (US$116.6 million) traded in the two markets.

Foreign investors concluded the trade as net sellers on the two exchanges, responsible for a combined net sell value of nearly VNĐ70 billion. – VNS