Vinamilk's products on the shelf at a supermarket in Hà Nội. Shares of the largest dairy company by market capitalisation slipped 0.7 per cent on Tuesday. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s benchmark VN-Index fell slightly on Tuesday as the large-cap sector was mixed due to investors’ strong profit-taking.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange inched down 0.07 per cent to 1,029.26 points.

The benchmark had gained a total of 2.68 per cent for five straight trading days since December 1.

The market declined despite the positive market breadth and good performance of stocks in all three sectors by market capitalisation.

A total of 240 stocks on the southern bourse increased while 203 stocks declined.

More than 527.6 million shares were traded on the southern market, worth VNĐ10.5 trillion (US$454 million).

The mid-cap and small-cap trackers rose 0.41 per cent and 0.78 per cent, respectively.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index inched up 0.16 per cent to 993.61 points, with 11 gainers and 17 decliners.

The market was weighed down by the decline of the blue chips like dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), brewer Sabeco (SAB), Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), consumer company Masan (MSN), and Vingroup JSC (VIC), which all dropped between 0.5 per cent and 0.8 per cent.

On the opposite side, SSI Securities (SSI), Military Bank (MBB) and insurer Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) softened the downturn.

SSI soared 6.6 per cent, and MBB and BVH advanced 2.2 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively, boosting the brokerage and insurance sectors by 5.3 per cent and 1.8 per cent.

“Local stocks began suffering from selling pressure after the rallies,” Thành Công Securities JSC (TCSC) said in its daily report.

“However, the trading liquidity was still high and that proves investors are not backing down at the moment,” the company said.

“Cash began flowing from large-cap stocks to mid-cap and small-cap stocks, especially securities shares on expectations those sectors would deliver good quarterly earnings reports,” TCSC added.

“The VN-Index has approached the strong resistance zone of 1,025-1,035 points and it could hinder the market’s short-term development.”

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index gained 1.56 per cent to 156.61 points.

The northern market index has totalled a six-day rally of 6.03 per cent since December 1.

More than 84 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ1.15 trillion. — VNS