A VPBank office in Hà Nội. The bank's stock (HoSE: VPB) jumped 4.1 per cent on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

HÀ NỘI — The benchmark VN-Index fell short of reaching 1,000 points on Wednesday afternoon as some large-cap stocks were pulled back by profit-taking pressure.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange was up 0.42 per cent to 999.94 points.

The index grew by as much as 0.66 per cent during the day to beat the one-year high of 1,000 points.

Việt Nam’s benchmark has totalled a seven-day rally of 5.17 per cent.

Large-cap stocks rose at a slower pace compared to the morning session.

The blue-chip tracker VN30-Index inched up 0.11 per cent to 960.63 points, lower than its morning growth of 0.22 per cent.

The VN30 futures slid 0.41 per cent to 960 points, indicating investors are slightly concerned about the market’s short-term outlook, according to Sai Gon-Hà Nội Securities (SHS).

Large-cap stocks either narrowed their gains or declined on Wednesday as profit-taking pressure enhanced in the afternoon.

Vinhomes (VHM) was down 0.4 per cent after having risen as much as 2.3 per cent during the day.

Vingroup (VIC) and Vincom Retail (VRE) advanced 1.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.

The two stocks increased by as much as 2.1 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively, during the day.

Other sharp gainers in the large-cap basket included lenders VPBank (VPB), Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID) and Vietcombank (VCB), SSI Securities (SSI), brewer Sabeco (SAB), and budget airline Vietjet (VJC).

On the opposite side, steel producer Hòa Phát (HPG) was hit hard by selling pressure as the stock slumped 5.1 per cent.

Hòa Phát’s foreign shareholder, investment fund PENM III, will put 76.5 million shares up for sale between November 27 and December 25 to exit from the local steel company.

Hòa Phát’s chairman Trần Đình Long will purchase 24 million shares from the vice-chairman in the same period to boost his total ownership to 34.95 per cent.

The mid-cap tracker VNMID-Index extended losses to 0.45 per cent from 0.05 per cent in the morning.

Meanwhile, the small-cap tracker VNSML-Index inched up only 0.02 per cent, down from 0.14 per cent in the morning session.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index recovered to post a 0.35 per cent increase to reach 148.09 points.

The northern market index lost 0.4 per cent on Tuesday.

More than 554 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth more than VNĐ12 trillion (US$523.4 million). — VNS