A trading day at MB Securities Company. The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange slid 0.21 per cent to end yesterday at 891.44 points. VNS Photo Trương Vị

HÀ NỘI — Strong purchases of cheap shares helped offset the negative impact of global markets on Vietnamese stocks on Friday.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange slid 0.21 per cent to end at 891.44 points.

The VN-Index gained 0.44 per cent on Thursday.

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange dipped 1.19 per cent to close at 113.66 points.

The northern market index had gained a total of nearly 7.9 per cent in the previous six straight days.

More than 266.8 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ4.55 trillion (US$195.7 million).

Of the total, more than 209.7 million shares were traded via the order-matching system, worth VNĐ3.08 trillion.

Market breadth was negative as a total of 267 stocks declined on the two exchanges while 216 advanced.

The sharp decline of global stocks on Thursday overnight due to fears about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak dampened local market sentiment in the early session, MB Securities Co (MBS) said in its daily report.

The benchmark VN-Index lost as much as 1.18 per cent during the day.

Market conditions improved in the afternoon session on Friday as investors began picking up items that declined in the morning, MBS said.

Amid market volatility, investors moved to smaller stocks to earn some quick profits while they tried to exit large-caps, MBS said.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index was down 0.38 per cent while the small-cap tracker VNSML-Index gained 0.35 per cent.

Foreign investors running out of supply was another good signal for the market, Thành Công Securities Co (TCSC) said in a note.

Foreign investors on Friday net-sold VNĐ37.3 billion worth of Vietnamese shares on HoSE and HNX. They have been net sellers for the last 19 trading days.

Weighing down the local market on Friday were technology, retail, mining and energy, and plastics and chemicals.

On the opposite side, health care and pharmaceuticals, banking, food and beverage, rubber, and agriculture sectors cushioned the market.

Among large-cap stocks that advanced were Vietcombank (VCB), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), consumer firm Masan (MSN), construction firm Coteccons (CTD), and steel producer Hòa Phát (HPG).

The Vietnamese stock market was expected to keep rising in the coming days as confidence would improve on expectations of stimulus packages from central banks, MBS said.

But the VN-Index would struggle to reach the 900-905 point zone, TCSC forecast. — VNS