A broker at work on Friday. Vietnamese shares fell slightly on Friday. Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares fell for a third day as selling increased on a large scale despite foreign buying.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) dropped 0.65 per cent to close Friday at 827.03 points.

The VN-Index has lost a total of nearly 1 per cent in the last three days and a total of 1.63 per cent this week.

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange tumbled 2.08 per cent to end at 109.02 points, totalling a weekly loss of 0.91 per cent.

More than 374.6 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ5.88 trillion (US$252 million).

Of the total figure, nearly 329 million shares were traded in the order-matching system, worth VNĐ4.83 trillion.

On the two exchanges, declining stocks outnumbered gainers by 328 to 165.

Large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap stocks were in negative territory. The three trackers were down between 0.87 per cent and 1.09 per cent, data on HoSE showed.

In the large-cap VN30 basket, 20 of the 30 largest stocks by market value and trading liquidity declined while only six advanced.

Large-cap stocks that were hit hard included insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), consumer firm Masan (MSN), Sacombank (STB), and petrol firm Petrolimex (PLX).

Declining large-caps were down between 0.6 per cent and 2.9 per cent.

On the positive side, foreign investors remained net buyers for the fourth consecutive day, buying a net value of VNĐ95 billion on the two exchanges.

Agriculture and energy sectors performed well. The agriculture sector index gained 2.4 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.

Shares of the two agriculture firms – Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and HAGL Agrico (HNG) – were up 2.1 per cent and 3.6 per cent after car manufacturer Thaco wanted to raise its stake in the latter to 28.62 per cent from 26.29 per cent.

Positive crude prices supported the energy sector as PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) rose nearly 1 per cent.

According to Rồng Việt Securities (VDSC), the market is weakening after having rallied in recent weeks. Selling pressure has increased but not by enough to pull the market down sharply.

Investors were becoming more cautious, VDSC said, adding risk management was becoming a priority. — VNS