HÀ NỘI — Shares declined on the HCM Stock Exchange on Monday after rallying for six consecutive sessions as large-cap stocks lost steam on late profit-taking.

The benchmark VN-Index fell 0.19 per cent to close at 819.43 points, putting a dent in its previous six-day rally in which the benchmark increased nearly 2 per cent.

Market trading liquidity rose in comparison with Friday’s figures. Roughly 169 million shares were traded on the southern exchange, worth VNĐ4.06 trillion (US$180.5 million).

The figures represented an increase of 9.6 per cent in trading volume and 21 per cent in trading value compared with Friday.

The market breadth of the southern exchange was negative, with 149 declining shares against 128 gaining ones and 40 unchanged.

The VN30 Index, which tracks the performance of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity, edged down 0.44 per cent as half the stocks suffered losses.

The 15 declining stocks in the VN30 basket fell between 0.2 per cent and 2.5 per cent with the worst-performing stocks being property developer Vingroup (VIC), steel company Hòa Phát (HPG), Bình Minh Plastic Co (BMP) and logistics firm Gemadept (GMD).

Mid-cap and micro-cap stocks also underperformed. The mid-cap stock index was down 0.09 per cent and the micro-cap dropped 0.13 per cent, according to market data site vietstock.vn.

The benchmark VN Index went down when it was about to test the level of 824 points and the index could fall further in coming sessions, Bảo Việt Securities Co’s analyst Trần Xuân Bách wrote in the company’s note. “Investors were more worried and cautious when the benchmark VN Index approached the range of 824-828 points, forcing them to offload more shares in the closing period,” Bách said.

The six-day rally was also an important factor in investor selling on the southern market, he added. “The VN-Index will face a short-term correction if investors cannot find a group of stocks that is attractive enough to lure investment into the market.”

In the next few days, the VN-Index could fall back to its near supportive ranges, which is forecast to be between 810 and 815 points or between 798 and 802 points, Bách added.

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange gained 0.18 per cent to close at 109.30 points. It advanced 0.67 per cent on Friday.

More than 45.6 million shares were exchanged on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ536.5 billion. — VNS