Customers at Eximbank's branch in Hà Nội. Eximbank's shares (EIB) hit the intraday high of 7 per cent rise yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tùng

HÀ NỘI — The VN-Index unexpectedly missed the 1,100-point landmark on Wednesday as many heavyweight stocks lost value in the last trading minutes under high profit-taking pressure.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index edged down 0.18 per cent to close the trade at 1,097.54 points. The benchmark has risen nearly 3 per cent in the three previous sessions.

Liquidity remained high with nearly 677 million shares worth VNĐ13.5 trillion (US$582 million) being traded, down slightly compared to Tuesday’s levels.

The market breadth was neutral with 228 stocks rising, 210 falling and 73 closing flat.

Blue chips were mixed when half of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity gained while the other half declined.

Steelmaker Hòa Phát Group (HPG) was the biggest loser, down 1.7 per cent. Other draggers included the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), PV Gas (GAS), FPT Corp (FPT), Vincom Retail (VRE), Vietcombank (VCB), Vinhomes (VHM), Vinamilk (VNM), Vietjet (VJC) and PV Power (POW) slipping between 0.4 per cent and 1.3 per cent.

Among the gainers, Eximbank (EIB) led the market with the daily limit rise of 7 per cent to VNĐ20,100 ($0.87) per share.

Vingroup (VIC), Phú Nhuận Jewelry (PNJ), FLC Faros Construction (ROS) and Refrigeration Electrical Engineering (REE) all increased by more than 1 per cent.

“In the last days of 2020, money continued to flow strongly into the market. Although there were lots of short-term profit-taking signs, the market is expected to rise,” said Bảo Nguyễn, a stock analyst at Viet Dragon Securities Co.

Bảo reckoned the stock market will continue its positive trend but needs to take profits from stocks with short-term peaks.

According to Bảo Việt Securities Co (BVSC), the VN-Index will challenge the resistance zone of 1,100-1,120 points in the next trading session.

“However, we believe that this resistance area still puts the market under pressure in the remaining sessions of 2020. The year-end closing in net asset value of investment funds may support the market uptrend,” BVSC’s analyst Trần Xuân Bách wrote in a daily report.

He suggested investors pay attention to the last quarter and full-year 2020 earnings seasons of listed companies.

“Large-cap stocks will experience a wide divergence and support the market. Cash flow still shows interest in medium- and small-cap stocks,” he said.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched down 0.08 per cent to close Wednesday at 196.94 points. The northern market's index rose nearly 5 per cent in the previous three sessions.

Nearly 113 million shares worth VNĐ1.2 trillion were traded on Hà Nội’s bourse, down 30.4 per cent in volume and 40 per cent in value compared to Tuesday’s figures.

Foreign investors were net sellers on the two exchanges, responsible for total net sell value of nearly VNĐ288 billion. — VNS