Investors at An Bình Securities Co. Vietnamese shares suffered the first loss on Wednesday after a six-day rally. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares retreated on Wednesday as increased profit-taking outweighed net foreign buying.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange inched down 0.13 per cent to close at 834.21 points.

The VN-Index had increased by a total of 9.55 per cent in six straight days since May 5.

The market declined as investors wanted to take profits from the market’s six-day rally, securities firms said.

Among stocks that fell and weighed on the market were property firms Vingroup (VIC), Vinhomes (VHM), aviation firm Vietjet (VJC), brewer Sabeco (SAB) and PetroVietnam Power (POW).

Those large-cap stocks dropped between 0.9 per cent and 2.9 per cent.

But large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap trackers on the southern bourse were up between 0.16 per cent and 1.35 per cent, proving market sentiment remained positive, according to MB Securities Co (MBS).

More than 374.6 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ6.75 trillion (US$289 million).

The trading figures were up 13.2 per cent in volume and 16.4 per cent in value compared to Tuesday’s.

Foreign investors were net buyers for a second day, buying a total value of VNĐ41 billion worth of stocks.

Foreign investors net-bought VNĐ90 billion of Vietnamese shares on Tuesday.

Energy stocks performed well to cushion the market as US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was on track to recover.

US crude futures gained 0.54 per cent to trade at near $26 a barrel. On the local market, PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), PetroVietnam Coating (PVB) and PetroVietnam Technical Services (PVS) were up 0.8-4.2 per cent.

Shares of banks, insurance firms, retailers, chemical and plastic producers, and seafood processing companies also advanced.

The market’s short-term prospects were not harmed by the latest decline as a drop was needed to settle market sentiment so sustainable growth was reached, MBS said in its daily report.

Positive signals came from the net buying from foreign investors while purchasing power remained high, keeping market breadth positive, the company said.

Despite the decline, 222 stocks advanced on the southern market while 148 declined.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.07 per cent to end Wednesday at 111.86 points.

The northern market index has gained a total of 6.12 per cent in six straight days since May 6.

More than 70 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ672.5 billion. — VNS