Vietcombank's transaction office during working hours. — Photo chinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam's stock market edged lower on Monday as pillar stocks in many sectors faced strong selling pressure. 

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSe) dropped 32.76 points, or 2.62 per cent, to 1,215.77 points, pulling back from last session's gains. The index rose 0.79 per cent last week.

While the market breadth stayed negative as 340 stocks fell and 91 stocks increased, its liquidity remained high with over 744.9 million shares being traded on the southern bourse, worth nearly VNĐ12.3 trillion. 

The index is expected to receive support from the level of 1,217 - 1,225 points, Bảo Việt Securities Company said in a daily report to customers.

"If it drops below this support level, the index might enter a bearish market to fall deeper in the short-term," said the securities firm.

Strong selling force weighed market sentiment yesterday, leading to big losses in many large-cap stocks. The VN30-Index posted a drop of 2.02 per cent to 1,275.04 points with twenty-six stocks declining while only four stocks rose. 

Real estate, construction and banking stocks were among the top five influencing the market's trend. Of which, Vingroup JSC (VIC) posted the biggest loss, down 4.92 per cent, followed by Vietcombank (VCB) and Vinhomes JSC (VHM), down 5.19 per cent and 5.14 per cent, respectively. 

Other stocks witnessing big losses ranging from 2-5 per cent included PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS) with a fall of 5.23 per cent, Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (Vinamilk, VNM), down 3.52 per cent, JSC Bank For Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), down 3.57 per cent, Vietinbank (CTG), down 3.87 per cent, Masan Group (MSN), down 5 per cent, and Hoà Phát Group (HPG), down 2.3 per cent.

Despite selling pressure around the market, some stocks still found their own momentum like No Va Land Investment Group Corporation (NVL) and VPBank (VPB) with NVL hitting the maximum daily gain of 7 per cent. 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also finished lower on large-cap stocks. The northern market benchmark slid by 1.04 per cent to 280.68 points, while the HNX30-Index lost 2.67 per cent to 415.66 points. 

During the session, more than 141.8 million shares were traded on the market, worth over VNĐ2.6 trillion. 

Foreign investors were still net buyers on both exchanges, but with a small value compared to the morning session. Accordingly, they net bought a value of VNĐ101.91 billion, compared to a value of VNĐ281.2 billion in the morning trade. — VNS