Trading value falls for fifth straight session

The index stayed in the green for the morning but started falling in the early afternoon, closing 3.43 points lower.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange fell by 4.85 percent to VND9.45 trillion ($404.5 million), a 13-session low.

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 19 tickers drop.

BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings and VIC of biggest conglomerate Vingroup both lost 1.8 percent.

TPB of private lender TPBank dropped 1.5 percent, and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk closed 1.2 percent lower.

Eight blue chips bucked the trend, led by KDH of housing developer Khang Dien with a 2.1 percent gain.

SAB of brewer Sabeco rose 1.6 percent, and VCB of the largest lender Vietcombank ended 1.4 percent higher.

Foreign investors were net buyers for the fifth straight session to the tune of VND54.88 billion. They focused on buying VCB and MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World and SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities.

The HNX-Index at the Hanoi Stock Exchange, where mid and small caps list, was down 0.88 percent while the UPCoM-Index at the Unlisted Public Companies Market was down 0.06 percent.