Workers of sugar firmThành Thành Công Biên Hòa JSC on a packaging line. Shares of the company edged down 0.34 per cent yesterday to VNĐ14,550 (US$0.62) per share. — Photo congthuong.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares ended Friday on a negative note after picking up in early trading as investors were still cautious.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange dropped 0.31 per cent to end this week at 851.98 points.

The VN-Index has fallen by 2.21 per cent since Tuesday to total a weekly loss of 1.91 per cent.

After picking up in the morning session, large-cap stocks hit the red and dragged the market down while mid-cap and small-cap sectors decreased further.

The mid-cap and small-cap indices declined by 0.39 per cent and 0.16 per cent, respectively.

The blue-chip tracker VN30-Index inched down 0.12 per cent to 795.53 points while its July futures slid one point to end the day at 778.10 points.

Other VN30 futures that mature in August, September and December 2020 also declined on Friday to 762.10-769.10 points.

“The gap between the large-cap tracker VN30-Index and its futures proves investors are still pessimistic about the market’s prospects and they are betting the market will keep declining in the future,” Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co (SHS) said in a note.

Eighteen of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation in the VN30 basket declined while seven increased.

Declining blue chips included property and industrial giant Vingroup (VIC), SSI Securities (SSI), HDBank (HDB), Sacombank (STB), sugar firm Thành Thành Công-Biên Hòa (SBT), petrol dealer Petrolimex (PLX) and insurer-finance group Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH).

On the positive side, brewer Sabeco (SAB) and property developer Novaland (NVL) cushioned the market as they gained 3 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively.

On a sector basis, real estate, securities, seafood, banking and consumer staples ended the day in the red while retail, health care and pharmaceuticals and rubber were positive.

The minor HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange fell 0.54 per cent to end Friday at 113.45 points, retreating from a 0.33 per cent gain on Thursday.

The northern market index lost a total of 1.65 per cent this week.

Nearly 357.3 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ4.76 trillion (US$205.6 million).

Foreign traders net-sold nearly VNĐ45 billion of local shares on Friday, down 32.5 per cent day-on-day.

“The distribution still happened today,” VietDragon Securities (VDSC) said in its daily report.

Cash flow into the market declined, thus making liquidity drop from the previous day, the company said.

“The market recovered unsuccessfully, showing its weakening move is still the main trend,” VDSC said. “Liquidity continued to retreat to a low level and distribution risks still exist.” — VNS