HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s key VN Index erased its early gains on Tuesday as blue-chip stocks suffered from late selling by investors.

The benchmark index on the HCM Stock Exchange dropped 0.04 per cent to end at 725.03 points. It also recorded a slight drop on Monday after a four-day increase of 0.9 per cent.

Market trading liquidity rose sharply compared to Monday. More than 294.2 million shares were traded worth VNĐ6.06 trillion (US$269.5 million).

Nearly two-thirds of the 30 largest companies by market capitalisation declined, including brewer Sabeco (SAB), dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), Vietcombank (VCB) and Vietinbank (CTG).

Of the 20 sectors, brokerages, insurance-finance firms and banks were among the worst decliners.

Brokerages that saw share prices drop included HCM City Securities (HCM), Sài Gòn Securities (SSI) and FPT Securities (FPT).

Among those companies, HCM City Securities received approval from the State Securities Commission to raise the bar for foreign investment to 100 per cent, from the previous level of 49 per cent.

The company’s shares slipped 4.4 per cent, the worst performance among listed brokerages on the southern bourse, after rising 15 per cent over the previous six days.

On the opposite side, property developers and energy companies helped lift the stock market.

Real estate firms proved to be the most attractive industry with six companies included in the most-active-stock board.

FLC Group (FLC), Hoàng Quân Consultancy-Trading-Service Real Estate (HQC), Tân Tạo Investment and Industry (ITA) and Sacomreal (SCR) were the four most active on the southern bourse.

FLC gained 2.8 per cent, HQC and SCR hit their daily trading limits of 6.7 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively, and ITA jumped 6.6 per cent.

The energy industry, including PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), was boosted by higher oil prices.

The major index lost gains made in the last minutes of the session as investors increased selling in large-cap stocks and some from speculative ones, putting pressure on the index to decline and raising market trading liquidity, BIDV Securities (BSC) said in its report.

The VN Index has fluctuated around the 725 point level in recent sessions, and is facing a short-term correction on profit-taking among mid-cap and small-cap stocks besides blue chips, the brokerage said.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX Index inched up 0.19 per cent to finish at 91.28 points. The northern market index has gained total 1.5 per cent after the last three sessions. — VNS