Transactions are processed at Sài Gòn Securities Inc’s office in Hà Nội. — VNS Photo Trương Vị

HÀ NỘI — The VN-Index failed to stay at the 1,000 point mark again as selling pressure increased sharply as the benchmark approaching the landmark.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange lost 0.84 per cent to close Wednesday at 991.19 points.

Nearly 179 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ4.24 trillion (US$183.2 million).

The VN-Index rose 0.3 per cent to close at 999.59 points on Tuesday.

This is the second time in the last three sessions the VN-Index has surpassed 1,000 points but failed to maintain the momentum till the end of trading.

According to Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co (SHS), this movement may affect investors' expectations.

Strong fluctuations on Wednesday were attributed to negative movements of global stocks.

The S&P 500 and Dow suffered the worst crises in more than a month on Tuesday after data showed factory activity in the US dropped to its weakest level in more than a decade, raising concerns that a trade war between the US and China is hampering the world's largest economy.

The Dow Jones decreased by 343.79 points, equivalent to 1.28 per cent, to 26,573.04 points. The S&P 500 lost 36.49 points, equivalent to 1.23 per cent, to 2,940.25 points. This is the sharpest decline for the two indices since August 23, when President Donald Trump asked US companies to find alternatives to doing business with China. Nasdaq fell 90.65 points, or 1.13 per cent, to 7,908.69 points.

Large-caps were strongly hit, including  Vingroup (VIC) (-1.6 per cent), Vietcombank (VCB) (-1.7 per cent), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) (-2.5 per cent), Masan Group (MSN) (- 2.3 per cent), Vinamilk (VNM) (-0.8 per cent), Vincom Retail (VRE) (-2.1 per cent), Vietinbank (CTG) (-1.4 per cent) and Vinhomes (VHM) (-0.2 per cent).

On a sector basis, wholesale, retail, insurance, real estate, energy, banking, information and technology, agriculture, food and beverage, seafood processing, construction materials and logistics were among the losers on Wednesday.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was down 0.55 per cent to end at 105.27 points.

More than 22.3 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ312 billion.

The northern market index was up 0.76 per cent to end at 105.85 points on Tuesday.

Foreign investors offloaded VNĐ345.74 billion on the HOSE, including Phát Đạt Real Estate Development JSC (PDR) (VNĐ89.04 billion), Vinamilk (VNM) (VNĐ61.50 billion) and Vingroup (VIC) (VNĐ41.99 billion). They were also net sellers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ5.5 billion. — VNS