HÀ NỘI — Shares failed to maintain their rally from the morning session as selling pressure increased towards the end of the session while buying demand remained weak.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange edged down 0.09 per cent to end the first trading session of this year at 891.75 points.

It had fallen 0.92 per cent to close last Friday at 892.54 points.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell 1.50 per cent to 102.67 points.

The index was up 0.24 per cent to end last week at 104.23 points.

Liquidity also dropped significantly when there was no positive information supporting the market cash flow. More than 132.2 million shares worth a combined VNĐ3 trillion (US$130 million) were traded on the two markets.

Meanwhile, market breadth was negative with 258 stocks declining and 160 gaining, while 336 ended flat.

The only bright spot in this session was that foreign investors continued buying strongly on the HOSE. Foreign investors Wednesday net bought VNĐ144.7 billion on the HOSE, focusing on steelmaker Hòa Phát Group (HPG) (VNĐ36.73 billion), dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM) (VNĐ33.46 billion) and Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII) (VNĐ24.79 billion). At the same time, they net bought VNĐ847.17 million on the HNX.

According to Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities JSC (SHS), the upbeat sentiment of investors at the beginning of the new year failed to continue until the end of the session as cash flow had not yet returned, pushing the market down at the end of the session.

Blue-chips were hit hard. Vicostone JSC (VCS), Sabeco (SAB) and HDBank (HDB) were suddenly pulled down, hitting the daily limit decline of 7 per cent.

Other large-caps such as Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), FPT Corporation (FPT), FLC Faros Construction Joint Stock Company (ROS), Techcombank (TCB) and VPBank (VPB) also fell deeply.

On the opposite side, some pillars still managed to increase, including Vingroup (VIC) (+ 5.4 per cent), dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM) (+ 3.3 per cent), Vincom Retail (VRE) (+ 3.2 per cent), Masan Group (MSN) (+ 1.4 per cent), Vietcombank (VCB) (+ 0.2 per cent) and Petro Vietnam Gas JSC (GAS) (+0.2 per cent), helping reduce the market’s downward trend.

SHS said in its daily report that the VN-Index could not reach the 900-point threshold in the short term.

“In the next sessions, the VN-Index may be pulled down or move sideways around the 880-900 point range with low liquidity. We recommend investors continue to be careful and stand outside the market to observe more,” SHS said.

The UPCOM Index on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) dropped 0.08 per cent to finish at 52.79 points. It rose 0.46 per cent to stand at 52.83 points last Friday. — VNS