Bank stocks grew yesterday but failed to lift the VN-Index, which declined for a third day under high selling pressure.–VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – Bank stocks grew yesterday but failed to lift the VN-Index, which declined for a third day under high selling pressure.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index edged down 0.24 per cent to close at 803.93 points. The key index decreased 0.5 per cent in the last three sessions.

Large-cap stocks were a mixed bag, with 14 of the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity (VN30) advanced while 12 declined.

Bank stocks were among gainers. Five of the seven banks on the southern bourse gained value and only Sacombank (STB) dropped by less than 1 per cent.

The four biggest banks in terms of market value and assets – Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), BIDV (BID) and Military Bank (MBB) – increased slightly between 0.13-1.71 per cent each.

Some heavyweight stocks like VinGroup (VIC), PV Gas (GAS), FPT Corp (FPT), insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), Mobile World Group (MWG) and FLC Faros Construction (ROS) also picked up but most of them grew by less than 1 per cent.

On the negative side, stocks pulling down the market included Masan Group (MSN), down 4.8 per cent, and brewer Sài Gòn Beer-Alcohol-Beverage (SAB), down 2.9 per cent. They are two of the 10 biggest listed stocks on the HCM City’s exchange by market value.

Other big losers also included Vinamilk (VNM), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), steelmaker Hòa Phát Group (HPG), DHG Pharmeceutical (DHG), Kinh Bắc City Development (KBC) and Novaland Investment Group (NVL).

According to BIDV Securities Co, the negative performance of the market this week, coupled with a lack of information caused investors to be reluctant to raise their portfolio exposure. Meanwhile, liquidity decreased, revolving around mainly speculative stocks.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index maintained its weekly uptrend with a rise of 0.54 per cent to end yesterday at 105.75 points. The northern market index has gained 1.21 per cent this week.

Liquidity improved slightly with trading volume of 222.6 million shares with total value exceeding VNĐ4.3 trillion (US$189.6 million) being exchanged in the two markets, up 7 per cent in volume and 12 per cent in value compared to Wednesday.

However, a negative signal was the return of net selling by foreign traders after two-days of net buying. Foreign investors were responsible for net sell value of VNĐ23.4 billion yesterday in the two markets. Their salescontinued to focus on blue chips including Masan Group, budget airline Vietjet (VJC) and Vinamilk. – VNS