HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares were mixed on Monday with low trading liquidity as investors remained unsure of the stock market’s prospects.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched down 0.19 per cent to close at 805.58 points, retreating from Friday’s gain of 0.4 per cent.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX Index gained 0.77 per cent to end at 107.34 points, extending its positive direction for a fourth session with total growth of 2.5 per cent.

More than 213.4 million shares were traded on both stock markets, worth VNĐ4.05 trillion (US$180 million).

Monday’s trading numbers were down 21 per cent in trading volume and 18.6 per cent in trading value compared to the previous session.

The market breadth was negative as declining stocks outnumbered gaining ones by 269 to 191 while 108 others closed unchanged.

Large-cap stocks performed badly with 19 of the 30 largest stocks on the VN30 Index declining. The VN30 Index tracks the performance of the 30 largest listed companies by market capitalisation and liquidity.

Decliners on the VN30 Index included FLC Faros Construction (ROS), Thành Thành Công Tây Ninh Sugar JSC (SBT), brewer Sabeco (SAB) and Bình Minh Plastic JSC (BMP).

Among those stocks, ROS, SBT and BMP were hit by investor selling after they had made strong gains in previous sessions.

ROS slumped 6.5 per cent after it had enjoyed a seven-day rally of total 12 per cent, SBT dropped 4.2 per cent following its two-day increase of 2 per cent and BMP fell 1.6 per cent.

Among speculative stocks, KLF Joint Venture Global Investment JSC (KLF) plunged 9.7 per cent after it posted strong growth last week. KLF had soared more than 52 per cent in the previous seven sessions.

On the positive side, gaining stocks included Sacombank (STB), consumer goods producer Masan Group (MSN) and DHG Pharmaceutical JSC (DHG).

MSN jumped 4.8 per cent to extend its gains for a second session after the company announced on Thursday that it would buy back maximum 10 per cent of the shares that are available on the stock market.

Bảo Việt Securities Company (BVSC) said in its daily report that the benchmark VN Index is forecast to move narrowly around the level of 806 points in the next few sessions.

Investor sentiment was weak, proven by the trading liquidity that remained lower than the average of the previous 21 sessions while losing stocks continued to outnumber gaining ones, BVSC said, adding that investors were clearly cautious and were running out of patience with the market’s prospects. — VNS