An SSI trading house. The brokerage shares fell 1.4 per cent on Thursday. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares felt pressure from global markets on Thursday, impacting the banking and brokerage sectors.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange fell 0.35 per cent to end at 848.21 points.

The VN-Index retreated from a 0.56 per cent increase on Wednesday.

After picking up in the early morning, the benchmark lost its momentum under the pressure of other Asia-Pacific markets.

Stock markets in the region declined on Thursday after the US central bank unveiled its July 28-29 meeting minutes with a cautious economic outlook, according to MB Securities Co (MBS).

Bank and brokerage stocks led the market downturn on Thursday as the two sectors fell 1.4 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, according to vietstock.vn.

The worst decliners in the banking and brokerage industries included HDBank (HDB), Sacombank (STB), Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), SSI Securities (SSI), and VNDirect Securities (VND).

Two-thirds of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and trading liquidity in the blue-chip VN30 basket declined, pulling the large-cap index down 0.42 per cent to 786.11 points.

On the derivatives market, the VN30 futures fell 1 per cent to end its maturity date at 785 points.

Mid-cap and small-cap stocks were also weighed down by poor market sentiment.

“The VN-Index had a correction session when it was somewhat affected by the general downward movement of most financial markets in the world,” BIDV Securities Co (BSC) said in its daily report.

The closing position of proprietary traders during the maturity session of the VN30 futures also caused troubles for local stocks, the company said.

“Traders are somewhat doubtful about the index’s ability to continue gaining,” BSC said.

The market may continue swinging between 845 and 855 points on Friday, the company forecast.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose 1.67 per cent to end Thursday at 121.18 points, extending its growth for the second day.

The northern market index has increased by a total of 3.55 per cent in the last two days.

Shares of Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) were the major boost for the northern bourse as they soared 5.6 per cent.

More than 350 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VNĐ7.46 trillion (US$319.4 million).

Foreign investors net-bought total VNĐ1.37 trillion worth of local shares on Thursday, including the net purchase of VNĐ1.7 trillion for nearly 22.8 million Vinhomes shares (VHM). — VNS