The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange fell 0.92 per cent to close Friday at 892.54 points. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s benchmark VN-Index ended 2018 on a negative note due to cautious market sentiment, which increased selling pressure over the last 30 minutes of the day.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange fell 0.92 per cent to close Friday at 892.54 points.

It gained 1.02 per cent on Thursday, ending a two-week losing streak of 7.23 per cent.

The southern market index totalled a weekly loss of 2.16 per cent and it has lost total 9.31 per cent over the year.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange was up 0.24 per cent to end at 104.23 points.

The northern market index has increased by total 1.90 per cent in the last two trading days but it inched down 0.21 per cent after one week.

The HNX Index lost total 10.8 per cent in 2018.

Around 208.7 million shares were traded on the two local exchanges, worth nearly VNĐ4 trillion (US$174.6 million), up slightly compared to Thursday’s figures.

Sudden increased selling in the last 30 minutes on Friday was the major factor that dragged the VN-Index off its positive trend, Artex Securities JSC said in a daily note.

The VN-Index gained as much as 0.33 per cent during the day.

“There were few positive moves on the market, even though the macro-economy has made great achievements in 2018, such as a seven-year high GDP growth and a below-forecast consumer price index (CPI),” Artex Securities said.

It proved “the market sentiment was still weak” and “there is a likelihood of the VN-Index falling below the 880-890 point range in coming weeks,” the company said.

Weak market sentiment and increased selling pressure pushed 165 stocks on the southern bourse down to negative territory at the end of the day, including 14 of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 basket.

The large-cap VN30 Index on Friday dropped 1.21 per cent to end at 854.99 points, dragged by property developer Vingroup (VIC), petrol firm Petrolimex (PLX), Vincom Retail (VRE), dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM) and consumer staple Masan (MSN).

Among those companies, Vingroup and Petrolimex stocks were the worst-performing as they slumped 6.9 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively.

According to Thành Công Securities JSC, selling pressure has shown signs of increasing after the last three trading days and the benchmark VN-Index is forecast to move sideways in coming sessions.

The company warned the VN-Index may not remain at the current 880-900 point range and it would soon fall deeper, triggering a large-scale sell-off on the market. — VNS