Shares retreated on the HCM Stock Exchange on Thursday as large-cap stocks were brought down by late profit taking, signaling poor investor sentiment.— Photo vinanet.vn

HÀ NỘI — Shares retreated on the HCM Stock Exchange on Thursday as large-cap stocks were brought down by late profit taking, signaling poor investor sentiment.

The benchmark VN-Index was down 0.05 per cent to close at 805.23 points as investors locked in their stock portfolios after the index reached a high of 810.54 points during the day.

The benchmark index added nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday to recover from its previous three-day decline of 0.84 per cent.

The market breadth was negative with 141 losing stocks, 128 gaining ones and 53 stocks ending unchanged.

Pressure from investors’ profit-taking pushed market trading liquidity up from Wednesday by a quarter in volume and 36.7 per cent in value to more than 148.4 million shares and VNĐ3.38 trillion (US$150.2 million).

Large-cap stocks underperformed with 17 of the top 30 companies by market capitalisation and trading liquidity in the VN30 basket declining.

The VN30 Index, which tracks the performance of the top 30 listed companies, rose 0.21 per cent to 797.42 points, narrowing its gain from the intraday high of 801.36 points.

PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), steel producers Hòa Phát Group (HPG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG), logistics firm Gemadept (GMD), and property developer Kinh Bắc City Development Holding (KBC) were among the worst decliners.

GAS closed down 2.2 per cent after growing as much as 0.3 per cent, HPG fell 2.1 per cent and hitting its highest intra-session growth rate of 0.6 per cent.

Other stocks such as HSG, GMD and KBC performed in a similar manner, ending the day down between 1.1 per cent and 1.8 per cent.

Bank stocks on the southern bourse returned to negative territory after a positive session that pulled the market up on Wednesday.

According to analysts at BIDV Securities Co (BSC), the benchmark VN-Index stepped back from a strong gain as investors looked for profits after local stocks performed quite well in the previous session.

“The level of 810 points will remain a tough short-term challenge for the VN-Index,” the brokerage said in its daily report, adding that the benchmark could go down further to test the supportive level of 800 points.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell 0.44 per cent to end at 106.96 points, reversing from its 0.8 per cent gain on Wednesday. Nearly 47.3 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth more than VNĐ557 billion. — VNS