A Techcombank office during working hours. The bank shares fell 2.29 per cent yesterday. Photo techcombank.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — The market reversed course to trade lower on Tuesday as selling pressure reappeared. However, it pared some losses in some stocks. 

The market benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) edged down in the afternoon session although the market breadth was still positive. 

The index fell 0.28 per cent to 1,256.04 points. It increased slightly this morning on the back of big stocks from material and bank sectors.

During the session, 261 stocks rose while 164 stocks declined and 40 ended flat. 

The market’s liquidity was high as local investors poured over VNĐ20.73 trillion into the southern bourse, equivalent to a trading volume of over 704.5 million shares. 

The market fluctuated after approaching the resistance level of 1,248 - 1,275 points in the morning trade as expected by analysts.

“The VN-Index is forecast to correct once it gets close to the resistance level of 1,248 - 1,275 points in the session,” said Trần Xuân Bách, senior stock analyst from Bảo Việt Securities.

“The index is likely to see cumulative sideways movements to create a new base above 1,200 points in the near term.”

Bách also added that the benchmark would need to break through the strong resistance territory of 1,275 - 1,285 points to reconfirm the upward trend in the short term. 

The reversal of the market in the afternoon session was due to losses of large-cap stocks. 

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stock on HoSE, slid 11.47 points, or 0.84 per cent, to close Tuesday at 1,359.19 points. Only eight stocks in the VN30 basket posted gains while 21 stocks fell and one stock stayed flat.

Property developer Vingroup JSC (VIC) led the downward trend in the market, with the shares falling 1.13 per cent. Another stock in the real estate sector posting big losses was Vinhomes JSC (VHM), which dropped 1.11 per cent.

Other stocks from the material and banking industry witnessed poor performance including Techcombank (TCB), Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (Vinamilk, VNM), and Hoà Phát Group (HPG). All these lost more than 1.5 per cent and performed well in the morning session. 

On the contrary, gains in JSC Bank For Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) or Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB) helped limit the fall. 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also inched down in the afternoon trade due to a fall in large-cap stocks. 

The index decreased 0.18 per cent to 279.76 points, while the HNX30-Index dropped 0.26 per cent to 417.4 points. 

There were nearly 112.2 million shares traded on the northern bourse yesterday, worth over VNĐ2.3 trillion. 

Foreign investors were fleeing from the market again. They net sold a value of VNĐ294.39 billion on HoSE, and a value of VNĐ19 billion on HNX. VNS