Containers are carried at Cái Mép International Port in Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province. Vietnamese stocks dropped deeper on Wednesday as worries about global trade slowdown overshadowed investor confidence. -– VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Dương

HÀ NỘI -– Vietnamese shares fell for a fifth trading day as investors remained sceptical over the market’s short-term prospects amid the uncertainty of the US-China trade row.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange dropped 0.66 per cent to close at 951.22 points.

The VN-Index has lost 2.9 per cent since April 26.

The Vietnamese stock market continued being weighed down by a negative market sentiment as investors across global markets worried about the outcome of the US-China trade talk this weekend.

The escalation of tensions between the US and China has pressurised global stocks in recent days, triggering strong selling in risk assets, according to Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities JSC (SHS).

A Chinese delegation will arrive in the US and discuss the trade deal on Thursday and Friday. However, global investors are pessimistic about the talks.

Bad mood among investors pulled trading liquidity down, SHS said.

Nearly 143.3 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ3.27 trillion (US$140.6 million).

“Investors are depressed with the market’s short-term trend and they are ready to return to trading,” SHS said.

Strong selling sent 19 of the 25 sector indices on the Vietnamese stock market down, data on vietstock.vn showed.

The worst-performing sectors were plastics and chemicals, food and drink, banking, insurance, and seafood processing.

The large-cap VN30-Index was also weighed down by poor confidence, losing 0.48 per cent to stand at 872.8 points at the end of the day.

Sixteen of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 basket declined while 10 increased.

Among the decliners were PetroVietnam Fertiliser and Chemicals Corporation (DPM), property firm Vinhomes (VHM), DHG Pharmaceutical JSC (DHG), and dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM).

On the opposite side, petroleum, machinery production, services, transport and logistics, and consultancy were among well-performing sectors to cushion a part of the market confidence.

Investors are now waiting for the outcome of the US-China trade talks as it will guide future moves, MB Securities JSC (MBS) said in its daily report.

Therefore, the Vietnamese stock market will likely go sideways amid rising caution, the company said.

“There could be some technical recovery during the trading day but it will be quite short-lived.”

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.07 per cent to end at 105.92 points.

The HNX-Index has gained a total of 0.46 per cent in the last two trading days.

More than 34.5 million shares were traded on the northern market, valued at VNĐ395.7 billion. – VNS