Benchmark indices moved in different directions on Friday as blue-chip stocks saw a withdrawal in capital while market liquidity hit a three-week high.

 

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) finished the day at 1,279.91 points, down 21.6 points, or 1.66 per cent.

 

On the southern bourse, the breadth was negative as 272 stocks ticked down, while 70 increased and 34 ended flat. Liquidity hovered above VNĐ29.3 trillion (US$1.15 billion), an increase of 27 per cent from the previous session.

 

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE by market capitalisation, also dropped 17.39 points, or 1.3 per cent, down to 1,316.46 points. The number of decliners surpassed gainers in the VN30 basket by 28 to two.

 

Large-cap stocks in the banking and manufacturing sectors led the market's downturn, with Vietnam Rubber Group - Joint Stock Company (GVR) posting the biggest fall in market capitalisation of 6.65 per cent, contributing to a decrease of 2.1 points in the VN-Index.

 

Banking stocks also saw poor performance on Friday. Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB) declined 1.02 per cent, Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (CTG) fell 3.24 per cent, and Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPB) tumbled 3.86 per cent.

 

Losses were capped by gains in some pillar stocks, led by Vietnam Airlines JSC (HVN). Shares of the national airline brand rose 5.88 per cent, contributing nearly one point to the VN-Index.

 

It was followed by Liên Việt Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank (LPB), which increased by 3.38 per cent and FPT Corporation (FPT) rose 0.77 per cent.

 

The Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) index also finished lower on Friday afternoon, declining 1.77 per cent to 243.97 points.

 

During the session, more than VNĐ2.1 trillion worth of shares were traded, equivalent to a trading volume of over 107 million shares on the northern bourse.

 

Foreign investors extended their net selling spree as they net sold over VNĐ568 billion on HoSE. — VNS