HÀ NỘI — Shares edged down on Thursday on the HCM Stock Exchange as leading stocks lost growing momentum on the back of a lack of support information.

The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched down 0.2 per cent to close at 700.65 points. The southern market index increased marginally on Wednesday.

Big gainers in the previous session fell into negative territory on Thursday under profit-taking pressure.

Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG) and its agricultural arm Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Agricultural (HNG) plunged 3.4 per cent and 6.9 per cent, respectively. HAG gained 5.4 per cent in the last three trades while HNG recorded an 11-per-cent rise in four consecutive sessions.

Shares of steelmaker Hòa Phát Group (HPG) were also down 0.22 per cent, breaking its six-session rally.

“The VN-Index has shown signs of weakening in recent sessions after a long rally before and after the Tết (Lunar New Year) break,” Trần Đức Anh, a stock analyst at Bảo Việt Securities Co wrote in Thursday’s market report.

“The slowing down of leading stocks is responsible for this volatility, while recent information is not strong enough to boost investor confidence.”

Local oil stocks remained in negative territory despite the recovery of global oil.

The largest listed gas company PV Gas (GAS) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service (PVD) decreased 1.9 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

Global oil prices rose after the US Energy Information Administration released data that gasoline stockpiles fell by 869,000 barrels, versus analyst expectations for a 1.1 million barrel increase.

The US crude WTI recouped 1.3 per cent to US$52.31 per barrel and the Brent rose 1 per cent to $55.16 per barrel on Wednesday. Their gains extended to Thursday’s morning trade with the WTI going up 0.88 per cent and Brent up 0.82 per cent.

Many of the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity slumped and pulled down the market such as VinGroup (VIC), Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), FPT Corp (FPT), Masan Group (MSN) and Saigon Securities Inc (SSI).

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose 0.42 per cent to end at 85.65 points.

According to analysts at Vietnam Investment Securities Co, investors should pay attention to the stocks promising dividends as well as 2016 positive earnings reports.

“Together with money inflows, one or two downward sessions are accumulative for the next advance,” they wrote in a market report.

Trading volume continued to decrease to 181.2 million shares, down 6.3 per cent from Wednesday’s level but the market value rose 16.7 per cent to a combined VNĐ3.5 trillion ($154.2 million) in the two markets.

Foreign investors returned to be net buyers with a total value of VNĐ56 billion, versus net sell value of VNĐ38 billion on Wednesday. — VNS