HÀ NỘI — Weak buying demand on Wednesday and the recovery of global stock markets on Tuesday failed to help domestic indices.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange edged down 0.86 per cent to end trading at 919.24 points.

It fell 0.69 per cent to end at 927.25 points on Tuesday.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell 0.25 per cent to 104.16 points.

The index fell 0.56 per cent to 104.42 points on Tuesday.

More than 231.5 million shares worth a combined VNĐ5.2 trillion (US$222 million) were traded on the two markets.

Meanwhile, market breadth was negative. Declining stocks outnumbered gainers by 264 to 166, while 324 ended flat.

Across the 20 sectors on the stock market, 12 industries saw share prices drop, including energy firms, property developers, brokerages, construction material and food and beverage producers.

The VN30 Index, which tracks the overall performance of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation, was down 0.89 per cent at 882.79 points.

Bluechips such as insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), Vietinbank (CTG), steel maker Hòa Phát Group (HPG), dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM) and Vietcombank (VCB) lost value, weighing on the indices.

VNM dropped 2 per cent to VNĐ129,100; BVH decreased 3.2 per cent to VNĐ91,000; HPG fell by 4.5 per cent to VNĐ29,700 per share; and CTG slumped 4.9 per cent to VNĐ20,400 per share.

World oil prices are plummeting, hitting oil stocks. Brent futures fell by 6 per cent to $56.08 per barrel. US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped 7.3 per cent to trade at $46.54 a barrel.

Firms that lost value in the oil group were PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PVD), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroViet Nam Coating JSC (PVB), Việt Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX) and PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), falling from 1.6 per cent to 4.5 per cent.

According to Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities JSC (SHS), the slight rebound of the US stock market on Tuesday had not helped the Vietnamese market exit a negative trading session on Wednesday.

The imminent release of important information has made investors more hesitant, leading to low liquidity during Wednesday’s session.

The outcome of the two-day meeting of the US Federal Reserves (FED), the conclusion of the two exchange-traded funds (ETF) – FTSE ETF and V.N.M ETF on the third-quarter portfolio restructuring, would affect investors’ decisions on the last trading sessions of this week, SHS said in its daily report.

“We recommend investors step back for the time being given the unpredictable market,” SHS said. — VNS