Pork products are labelled at a Massan Group factory in the nothern province of Hà Nam. The company's shares dropped 2.1 per cent to VNĐ85,500 per share on Thursday. Photo danviet.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares continued to decline on Thursday on low liquidity as large-caps were hit strongly by selling pressure.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange decreased 0.23 per cent to close at 969.34 points.

Nearly 160 million shares were traded on the southern exchange, worth VNĐ4 trillion (US$174 million).

The index inched down 0.05 per cent on Wednesday to close at 971.54 points.

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) stayed unchanged at 105.32 points.

Over 21 million shares were traded on the northern exchange, worth VNĐ244 billion.

Selling pressure increased significantly at the end of the session, weighing on many large-cap stocks such as real estate company Vinhomes (VHM), Hòa Phát Group (HPG), Masan Group (MSN) and dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM). HPG dropped by 1.5 per cent to VNĐ32,000 per share. MSN dropped 2.1 per cent to VNĐ85,500 per share. VHM decreased by 1.2 per cent to VNĐ82,600 per share and VNM dropped 1.1 per cent to VNĐ131,500.

Other blue-chips managed to maintain their rally, cushioning the indices, including Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Bank (SHB), brewery Sabeco (SAB), real estate company Novaland (NVL), HDBank (HDB), budget carrier Vietjet Air (VJC) and Vietnam Construction And Import-Export Joint Stock Corporation (VCG).

Investor sentiment appears to be weak due to a lack of supportive information and the risk of volatility on world markets.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 221.36 points, or 0.87 per cent, to close at 25,126.41 points, the lowest level since February 11. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also fell.

Some oil and gas stocks such as PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD) and Drilling Mud Joint Stock Corporation (PVC) fell slightly.

Sectors that increased included insurance, banking and construction.

Food and beverages, securities, real estate, agriculture, logistics and construction materials were among the sectors that reported losses.

Foreign investors sold a net value of VNĐ689.34 billion on the HoSE, focusing on Vietjet Air (VNĐ690.06 billion), Vinhomes (VNĐ33.83 billion) and Vinamilk (VNĐ28.67 billion). They also sold a net value of VNĐ6.9 billion on the HNX.

According to Bảo Việt Securities Company (BVSC), the market is likely to decrease toward the support zone of 960-965 points. As the market is moving sideways, stock exposure should be limited at 40-50 per cent of an investor's portfolio. — VNS