Customers buying gasoline at a Petrolimex station in Phú Thọ Province. Shares of Petrolimex (PLX) lost 2.5 per cent on Wednesday. Photo petrolimex.com.vn

HÀ NỘI The market reversed course to trade lower on Wednesday as selling pressure reappeared towards the last trading minutes of the session.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index decreased 0.11 per cent to close at 1,408.55 points.

It had increased 0.30 per cent to close Tuesday at 1,410.04 points.

Liquidity decreased slightly compared to the previous session with more than 595 million shares worth VNĐ21 trillion (US$911 million) traded on the southern exchange on Wednesday.

The VN30 Index, which tracks the top 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity, slid 0.06 per cent to close at 1,529.00 points with half of the stocks in the basket losing value.

The sudden increase in selling pressure pulled many large-cap stocks down, the VN-Index also reversed. Large-cap stocks like PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), Phát Đạt Real Estate Development (PDR), Vietinbank (CTG), Liên Việt Post Bank (LPB), Vietnam National Petroleum Group (PLX), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) all fell deeply.

On the other side, some blue-chips gained ground such as Vietcombank (VCB), Vingroup (VIC), VPbank (VPB) and Bank for Investment and Deveopment of Vietnam (BID).

“VN-Index remained in an upward trend for most of the trading time and closed above 1,410 points. Investment cash flow declined while foreign investors were net buyers on the HoSE and net sellers on the HNX,” said BIDV Securities Co.

“Market breadth turned negative with liquidity dropping compared to the previous session. According to our assessment, VN-Index may have a slight correction in the next sessions to retest the area around 1,400 points,” it said.

Foreign investors net bought VNĐ1.75 trillion on HOSE, including Novaland (NVL) with VNĐ1.5 trillion, Vinhomes (VHM) with VNĐ216.3 billion and Vietcombank (VCB) with VNĐ133.1 billion.

They were net sellers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ4.01 billion.

On a sector basis, nine out of 25 sectors gained ground, including healthcare, retail, food and beverage, logistics and construction.

On the opposite side, losers were real estate, securities, information and technology, banking, agriculture, seafood processing, wholesale, insurance, oil and gas, rubber production and construction materials.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index declined 0.15 per cent to close Wednesday at 323.32 points

It had advanced 0.21 per cent to close Tuesday at 323.79 points.

More than 103 million shares worth VNĐ2.4 trillion were traded in the northern market. — VNS