The VN-Index fell on Friday as foreign investors continued to offload financial stocks.

At the close, the VN-Index on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HOSE) lost 3.88 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 1,683.18 points. Market breadth turned negative with 416 decliners and 291 gainers.

In the VN30 basket which tracks the top shares by market value and liquidity, 15 stocks fell, 12 advanced and three closed flat.

The benchmark posted a 2.8 per cent decline for the week.

Liquidity improved, with over 952 million shares worth nearly VNĐ303 trillion (almost US$1.2 billion) traded on HOSE, including both order-matching and negotiated deals, up 26 per cent in value and 22 per cent in volume compared with Thursday.

During the afternoon session, buying interest helped the VN-Index recover toward the reference level, but selling pressure eventually prevailed.

Banking and securities stocks weighed most heavily on the index, with Techcombank (TCB), Military Bank (MBB), VPBank (VPB) and VIX Securities (VIX) together cutting more than 5.2 points. In contrast, gains in Vingroup (VIC), software giant FPT, Vinamilk (VNM) and resort developer Vinpearl (VPL) added roughly six points.

Analysts at Viet Dragon Securities JSC (VDSC) said that although the market faces resistance near 1,700 points, it has continued to maintain an upward trend.

“The possibility of a correction may emerge in the next trading sessions, but the signal of gradual gains over the last three sessions may continue to create recovery momentum for the market,” VDSCadded.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), sentiment was more upbeat thanks to solid performances by Tasco (HUT), up 4.35 per cent, Thaiholdings (THD), up 6.21 per cent, property developer CEO Group (CEO), up 2.67 per cent and Petrovietnam Technical Services (PVS), up 1.63 per cent.

Ending the day, the HNX-Index rose 0.19 per cent to close at 267.28 points, with nearly 117 million shares worth VNĐ2.6 trillion exchanging hands.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the session, offloading a net value of VNĐ1.85 trillion worth of shares on HOSE, led by SSI (VNĐ759 billion), MBB (VNĐ346 billion), VCI (VNĐ199 billion) and VIX (VNĐ144 billion). On HNX, they sold a modest net value of VNĐ98 billion.

VDSC analysts advised investors to stay cautious in the short term as the market still faces several risk factors, recommending monitoring supply and demand at resistance levels before making new moves.

“Some recovery swings could offer opportunities to take profits or rebalance portfolios to reduce risk.” — BIZHUB/VNS

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