HÀ NỘI – More than 80 per cent of large-cap stocks on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange declined on Thursday, dragging down the benchmark VN-Index.

The southern market index decreased 0.75 per cent to close at 901.89 points. It edged down 0.11 per cent on Wednesday.

The VN30 which tracks the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on HCM City’s bourse fell by a steeper 1.27 per cent with 25 losers.

The stocks that weighed the market most included Vincom Retail (VRE), Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPB), both down more than 4 per cent, and logistics firm Gemadept (GMD), down 5.3 per cent.

Most sectors lost on Thursday, of which oil and gas stocks dropped by 1.6 per cent with underperformance of big companies such as PV Gas (GAS), Petrolimex (PLX) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) – all slumping more than 1 per cent.

Bank stocks decreased 0.54 per cent on the losses of VPB, Vietinbank (CTG), Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID), Vietcombank (VCB) and Hồ Chí Minh Development Bank (HDB).

On the contrary, insurance stocks advanced 1.94 per cent, driven by Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), up 2.1 per cent; PVI Holdings (PVI), up 4.3 per cent; and Bảo Minh Insurance (BMI), up 1.7 per cent.

Textile and garment stocks also advanced as investors hoped for better prospects after the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) officially comes into effect this week.

Garment 10 Corp (M10) climbed 13.7 per cent on the UPCoM while Saigon Garmex Manufacturing (GMC) and Century Synthetic Fiber (STK) increased 2.7 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively.

However, subdued trading on the southern bourse negatively impacted the Hà Nội Stock Exchange and Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) with the HNX-Index and UPCOM-Index both edging down nearly 0.1 per cent.

A total of 152 million shares worth a combined VNĐ2.7 trillion (US$115.6 million) were traded on the two main bourses on Thursday, down 22.4 per cent in volume and 37 per cent in value compared to the previous session.

Only 7.5 million shares worth VNĐ160.5 billion were traded on the UPCoM.

According to Viet Dragon Securities Co (VDSC), the market is still in an uptrend with alternating gains and loss.

“The differentiation appears based on the information of the fourth-quarter business results of companies,” said Khải Trần, a VDSC analyst, in their daily report.

Foreign investors bought net VNĐ26 billion ($1.1 million) on HCM City’s exchange but sold net VNĐ2 billion ($86,000) on Hà Nội’s bourse. – VNS