Shares of Cotec Construction Joint Stock Company (CTD) lost 7 per cent on Monday. Photo baodautu.vn

HÀ NỘI — Shares turned negative during the afternoon trading session on Monday as a series of large-cap stocks suffered from strong selling pressure stemming from anxiety over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange lost 2 per cent to end the session at 1,035.51 points.

More than 634.3 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ13.7 trillion (US$592.9 million).

“After a strong recovery from the previous session, the VN-Index returned to decline today due to the development of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said BIDV Securities Co.

“Liquidity declined, market amplitude widened and market breadth was negative, indicating a strong net selling trend.

“The movement of the VN-Index is likely to depend on the spread of COVID-19 in the coming period. If the disease is successfully controlled, the market can retest the 1,100 point area. If not, the VN-Index is likely to return to the threshold of 1,000 points,” the company said.

Foreign investors net bought VNĐ180.5 billion on HOSE, including Hoà Phát Group (HPG) with VNĐ87.5 billion, Vinamilk (VNM) with VNĐ87.4 billion and Vincom Retail (VRE) with VNĐ80.5 billion. Foreigners were net buyers on the HNX with the value of VNĐ7.21 billion.

Bảo Việt Securities Co said that after two weeks of declining, the market would recover this week.

“The VN-Index might head to resistance territory of 1,085 - 1,100 points. However, the securities firm warns of strong fluctuations in some sessions before continuing to recover in the short-term,” it said.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index was down 1.76 per cent to 1,029.86 points.

Twenty-six of the 30 large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket decreased while four increased.

A number of blue-chips suffered such as Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Hoà Phát Group (HPG), Masan Group (MSN), Vingroup (VIC), Phú Nhuận Jewelry (PNJ), Vincom Retail (VRE), Vinhomes (VHM), Mobile World Group (MWG), Vietcombank (VCB), Vinamilk (VNM), Sabeco (SAB).

The banking group also performed poorly including Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Military Bank (MBB), VPBank (VPB), HDBank (HDB) and Techcombank (TCB).

Real estate and construction stocks were under pressure with decliners including the Cotec Construction Joint Stock Company (CTD), Sao Mai Group (ASM), Đất Xanh Group (DXG), Fecon Corporation (FCN), Hoà Bình Construction (HBC), Kinh Bắc Urban Development Joint Stock Co (KBC) and LDG Investment JSC (LDG).

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell 2.51 per cent to 208.85 points.

More than 115.8 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ1.7 trillion. — VNS