Steel firm Hòa Phát's factory in Hưng Yên Province. The firm's shares declined by 2.5 per cent on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Phạm Kiên

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese markets picked up a bit in the afternoon session but profit-taking quickly erased gains at the end of the day.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange ended Tuesday at 767.21 points, down 0.46 per cent from the previous day.

The VN-Index lost 0.76 per cent on Monday.

Nearly 219.4 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ3.66 trillion (US$156.5 million).

Of the total, more than 197 million shares were sold via the order-matching system, worth VNĐ3.16 trillion.

Large-cap stocks dragged the major market as the large-cap tracker VN30-Index edged down 0.54 per cent to 715.74 points.

Among large-caps that declined were dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), steel producer Hòa Phát (HPG), brewer Sabeco (SAB), national carrier Vietnam Airlines (HVN), realty firm Vincom Retail (VRE), the Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), retailer Mobile World Investment (MWG), and PetroVietnam Gas (GAS).

Among those stocks, Vinamilk shares dropped 2.2 per cent, Hòa Phát shares lost 2.5 per cent, Sabeco shares tumbled 5.6 per cent, Vietnam Airlines shares shed 1.7 per cent, Vincom Retail shares were down 3.2 per cent, and PetroVietnam Gas shares lost 2.2 per cent.

On the opposite side, purchases for some bank stocks also helped boost the sector with gains for Vietinbank (CTG), Military Bank (MBB), Vietcombank (VCB) and Techcombank (TCB).

Investors kept running from large-caps into mid-cap and small-cap stocks, boosting the two indices 0.35 per cent and 0.28 per cent, respectively.

The stock market fell for a second day with lower trading liquidity indicating investors were bored with the current market conditions, Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co (SHS) said in its daily report.

“Most of them are standing by and observing the market closely as the market will have the last trading session tomorrow before closing for the national holidays,” SHS said.

The Vietnamese market will be closed on Thursday and Friday – the last two trading days of the week – for the 45th Reunification Day (April 30) and International Labour Day (May 1). The market will re-open next Monday.

Foreign investors kept net-selling local assets and put more pressure on local assets, SHS said.

The VN30 futures ending May was up 1.5 points to finish Wednesday at 694.00 points. It is still 21.74 points lower than the VN30-Index’s close of 715.74 points.

The VN-Index was expected to keep swinging on Thursday and range from 755 points to 790 points, SHS forecast.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index slid 0.04 per cent to close at 106.26 points.

The northern market index has made a two-day decline of a total of 0.66 per cent.

More than 41.5 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ308.5 billion. — VNS