Passengers after taking a Vietjet flight. The aviation firm's shares rose 1.2 per cent. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hùng

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares had the weakest gain in two weeks as pressure mounted on the large-cap sector amid the increasing virus cases in the country.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange rose 0.27 per cent to end Thursday at 840.04 points.

That was the index’s lowest growth in two weeks since its 0.20 per cent increase recorded on July 23.

The VN-Index has risen total 5.22 per cent in the last four trading days.

Thursday’s growth was lower than the previous three days as some of the blue chips started suffering from the rise of profit taking.

The blue chip tracker VN30-Index inched up 0.11 per cent to 781.60 points at the end of the day.

The VN30 futures maturing on August 20 slid 0.19 per cent to 776.00 points.

The large-cap basket was balanced with 13 gainers and 14 decliners while three stocks ended Thursday flat.

Gainers were led by brewer Sabeco (SAB), dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), HDBank (HDB), PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) and aviation firm Vietjet (VJC).

Sabeco and Vinamilk shares gained 3.7 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively.

A report on vietstock.vn showed consumer stocks had dropped total 8.39 per cent in July, making them more attractive to investors.

SAB has increased by total 8.63 per cent since July 31 and VNM has advanced nearly 7.3 per cent.

On the other side, food and beverage producer Masan (MSN), Sacombank (STB), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), and Techcombank (TCB) weighed on the large-cap basket.

MSN dropped 2 per cent after having surged total 11.4 per cent in the previous five straight days. STB, BID and TCB declined by 1.3-1.4 per cent after their three-day rallies.

The mid-cap index inched down 0.14 per cent while the small-cap gained 0.33 per cent on Thursday, showing profit-taking pressure was increasing.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell 0.59 per cent to finish Thursday at 113.35 points.

The northern market index retreated from a three-day rally of total 6.05 per cent.

More than 298.5 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ4.55 trillion (nearly US$197 million).

The authorities of Hà Nội on Thursday reported the third coronavirus infection case in two weeks. As of 6pm Thursday, total number of infection cases in Việt Nam was 747 and 10 deaths were recorded.

The market began shaking as investors started locking in profits and the struggle will continue in the next days, Thành Công Securities Co (TCSC) said in its daily report.

“But the VN-Index will still head up to test the 850-860 points,” the company said. — VNS