An investor watches stock indices on a computer screen at an exchange floor of SSI Securities Co in Hà Nội. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The VN-Index slumped for the first time in seven trading days on Thursday after investors sought profits following a long rallying streak.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE), the VN-Index lost more than 13 points, or 1 per cent, to close Thursday at 1,303.57 points.

Việt Nam’s benchmark index had risen more than 5 per cent in the previous seven sessions and many investors started to cash in on their investments.

The southern stock exchange suffered a 45-minute system congestion in the afternoon session after trading volume surged.

System congestion is not a new phenomenon but occurred in recent sessions. According to analysts at vietstock.vn, the HOSE strengthening its trading capacity to 1.1 million orders per session is not enough compared to demand of investors.

“Investors placing orders slowly will face risk, especially in the afternoon session like today,” they wrote in the daily report on its website.

Nearly 733 million shares worth VNĐ24.1 trillion (US$1.04 billion) were traded on HCM City’s exchange on Thursday, up 30 per cent in volume and 11 per cent in value compared to the previous session.

The market breadth was negative when the number of losers tripled the gainers. In the VN30 basket (which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity), only six shares increased while 22 decreased.

Banks were among the biggest losers, including BIDV (BID), Vietinbank (CTG), Hồ Chí Minh Development Bank (HDB), Military Bank (MBB), Techcombank (TCB) and Tiên Phong Bank (TPB) with each losing more than 2 per cent.

On the other end of spectrum, realty stocks climbed. Many mid-cap real estate companies maintained their growth for the whole day, including Development Investment Construction (IDG), Đất Xanh Group (DXG), Becamex Infrastructure Investment (IJC), Khang Điền House Trading and Investment (KDH) and Phát Đạt Real Estate Development (PDR).

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched down 0.13 per cent to end at 304.45 points.

The northern bourse advanced for four consecutive sessions with total growth of 3.3 per cent.

Nearly 154 million shares worth VNĐ3.5 trillion were traded on the northern bourse.

In contrast to domestic investors, foreign traders continued to pour money into Việt Nam’s stock market. They were net buyers on both exchanges on Thursday, picking up shares worth a total net buy value of VNĐ267 billion. — VNS