HÀ NỘI — Shares sank for a second day on Thursday as large-cap stocks continued to suffer profit-taking pressure while money sought opportunities in small- and mid-cap stocks.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index was down 0.14 per cent to close at 766.30 points.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched down 0.07 per cent to end at 98.61 points.

Large-cap stocks led the market downturn with eight of the top 10 largest shares by market value on the main bourse in HCM City losing value.

Bank shares continued to decline as investors practiced the ‘buy the rumour, sell the news’ strategy. After purchasing the shares based on the imminent passing of the bad debt settlement resolution by the National Assembly, they proceeded to sell once the event happened.

Eight of nine listed lenders on the two exchanges slumped, of which Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Bank (SHB) was the biggest loser with a 3.9-per-cent decrease. Big banks such as Vietinbank (CTG), Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID) and Military Bank (MBB) slipped between 0.9-2.2 per cent.

“The story of the bank shares is about to end after strong rallies for most of these stocks (except for Vietcombank),” market analysts at Vietnam Investment Securities Co wrote in a note.

“Money flows are looking for the last chance at a few stocks which have not increased much in the past rally, as well as the stocks promising positive business results in the second quarter,” they said, noting securities, steel and electronics companies would likely yield fruitful results.

Stocks of these companies, such as FPT Corp (FPT), Hòa Phát Group (HPG), Hoa Sen Group (HSG) and Mobile World Group (MWG), posted gains in Thursday’s trade.

On the positive side, investors are also channeling money into small- and mid-cap stocks, particularly in the real estate and agribusiness sectors.

Popular companies such as Sài Gòn Thương Tín Real Estate (SCR), Đất Xanh Real Estate Service & Construction (DXG), Novaland Investment (NVL), Hòa Bình Construction Group (HBC), Kinh Bắc City Development (KBC) on the HCM Stock Exchange, and Việt Nam Construction and Import Export (VCG) on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange were among the most active, with each seeing several million shares worth over VNĐ100 billion (US$4,405) traded.

Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Co (HAG) and Hoàng Anh Gia Lai Agricultural Investment (HNG) also soared with rises of 4.5 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively.

Liquidity decreased slightly with a total of 278 million shares worth a combined VNĐ5.2 trillion ($227.2 million) traded in the two markets, down 13.1 per cent in volume and 3.4 per cent in value compared to Wednesday’s trade.

Foreign investors increased buying local stocks with another net buy value of VNĐ85 billion on the HCM Stock Exchange. — VNS