Inside a FPT Shop store. The store chain operator FPT Retail (HoSE: FRT) slipped 2.1 per cent on Tuesday. — Photo vnreview.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares gave up gains, sliding from a three-month high on Tuesday, as banks and retailers declined.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) inched down 0.05 per cent to end at 899.43 points.

The VN-Index gained had gained a total of 2.87 per cent in the previous four trading days to climb to its three-month high of 899.92 points.

More than 501.7 million shares were exchanged on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ7.18 trillion (US$308.5 million).

A technical error during the day forced HoSE to cancel its At-the-Close (ATC) session, which normally decides stocks’ closing prices.

Local stocks rose near 905 points during the day but profit taking quickly dragged them down towards the end of the day.

The blue-chip tracker VN30-Index fell 0.18 per cent to 837.02 points.

Eighteen of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity declined while 10 increased.

Shares of banks and retail companies weighed on the market.

The sub-indices that track the performance of bank and retail stocks were down 0.6 per cent and 1.5 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.

Among the worst-decreasing stocks in the two sectors were Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), VPBank (VPB), Mobile World Investment (MWG) and FPT Retail (FRT).

Construction materials, mining and energy, and seafood were other sectors that succumbed to profit taking pressure.

On the positive side, the insurance index gained 2.5 per cent with finance-insurance group Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) leading the growth.

The consumer staples index gained 1 per cent, led by dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM).

Securities firms’ tracker edged up 0.6 per cent despite losses of big firms such as SSI Securities (SSI), VietCapital Securities (VCI) and VNDirect Securities (VND).

The decline was inevitable because the market had gained strongly in previous days, MB Securities (MBS) said in its daily report.

“The positive thing is domestic purchase is still strong enough to counter profit-taking pressure and cushion the market,” MBS said.

“Investors are running away from blue chips and seeking opportunities in small-cap stocks,” the company said.

The small-cap tracker VNSML-Index was up 0.4 per cent on Tuesday.

The market was expected to keep struggling in the coming days, the firm forecast.

The minor HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange was up 0.03 per cent to close Tuesday at 120.13 points.

The northern market index has rallied a total of 5.71 per cent in the last five trading days.

Nearly 87 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ817 billion. — VNS