Vincom centre's entrance in District 1, HCM City. Vinhomes shares lost more than 3 per cent yesterday as risk appetite declined. Photo vinhomecentralpark.com

HÀ NỘI — Shares settled down on the last trading day of the week as investors returned to profit-taking activities, while foreign investors continued to net sell on the market. 

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) plummeted 24.84 points, or 1.92 per cent, to 1,268.83 points. The fall took back all recovery efforts of Thursday's trade which gained nearly 23 points. 

The market’s breadth was negative as 282 stocks declining while 97 climbed and 38 ended flat. 

Meanwhile, the liquidity was higher with nearly 582.3 million shares traded on the southern bourse, worth more than VNĐ19.3 trillion (US$839.4 million). 

The index fell sharply due to a strong division of large-cap stocks in all sectors. The 30 biggest stocks tracker VN30-Index dropped 26.95 points, or 1.89 per cent, to 1,401.53 points. In the VN30 basket, 26 stocks decreased while only four rose. 

The drop went against expectations from Saigon-Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS)’s analysts. In a daily report, the securities firm projected that the market would continue to recover with a target of around 1,300 points, which is an important resistance level as well as a psychological level. 

Stocks in attractive sectors including banking, real estate and material still led the market’s downward trend. Of which, Vietcombank (VCB) lost the most in market capitalisation, down 3.29 per cent, followed by Vinhomes JSC (VHM), down 3.06 per cent. 

Vingroup JSC (VIC), Hoà Phát Group (HPG), Techcombank (TCB), VPBank (VPB), Vietinbank (CTG) and Masan Group (MSN) also posted big losses, down at least 2 per cent. 

Many other large-cap stocks fell more than 1 per cent like Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), JSC Bank For Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), PetroVietnam Gas JSC (PVGas, GAS) and Novaland. 

However, there were still some stocks witnessing positive performance. Of which, Vinamilk was the biggest gainer, up 0.92 per cent. It was followed by Sacombank (STB), Đức Giang Chemicals Group JSC (DGC) and FPT Corporation (FPT) with DGC even hitting the maximum daily gain of 7 per cent. 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also posted a decrease of 1.37 per cent to 301.77 points. 

Investors poured nearly VNĐ2.28 trillion into the northern bourse, equivalent to a trading volume of over 101.5 million shares. 

Meanwhile, foreign investors continued to flee from the market with a net value of VNĐ172.46 billion. Of which, they net sold a value of VNĐ204.16 billion on HoSE, and net bought a value of VNĐ14.18 billion on HNX. VNS