Transactions at Techcombank (TCB). TCB lost 2.1 per cent on Thursday. — Photo courtesy of Techcombank

HÀ NỘI — Shares ended on a negative note on Thursday due to profit-taking pressure dumping a series of large-cap stocks.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange lost 0.1 per cent to 918.84 points.

The index had gained 0.44 per cent to close Wednesday at 919.72 points.

More than 470.3 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ7.9 trillion (US$340.6 million).

Market breadth was negative with 253 losers and 158 gainers.

According to Thành Công Securities Co, the VN-Index ended Thursday with a slight decrease as many stocks faced profit-taking pressure.

“This shows investors are cautious when the market started to approach the resistance area of 920-930 points. TCSC believes that selling pressure is likely to continue in the next few sessions, causing indices to fluctuate. At the same time, the market will witness differentiation in many good fundamental stocks,” it said.

BIDV Securities Co said the market was in a struggling period before the third quarter business results are announced.

Investors should limit trading and should only invest in good fundamental stocks, it said.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index declined 0.12 per cent to 869.82 points with 19 of the 30 largest stocks by market value and trading liquidity dropping.

Shares struggled for most of trading, with large-cap stocks witnessing wide divergence.

Pillar stocks that put great pressure on the market were Techcombank (TCB), the Airports Corporation of Việt Nam (ACV), Stone maker Vicostone JSC (VCS), VPBank (VPB), brewery firm Sabeco (SAB) and dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM).

On the other side, pillar stocks Phú Nhuận Jewelry (PNJ), Mobile World Group (MWG), FPT Corporation (FPT) and Hòa Phát Group (HPG) were the supporters of the indices, helping narrow the market’s decline.

On a sector basis, 11 out of 25 sectors on the market lost ground, such as wholesale, real estate, banking, agriculture, rubber production, seafood processing and logistics.

Gainers included securities, information and technology, mining and construction materials.

Foreign investors net sold VNĐ92.78 billion on HOSE. They were net buyers on the HNX with the value of VNĐ1.28 billion.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was down 0.38 per cent to close Thursday at 135.61 points.

The northern market index had dropped 1.19 per cent to close Wednesday at 136.13 points.

Nearly 74.7 million shares were traded on the northern exchange, worth VNĐ951.7 billion. — VNS