HÀ NỘI — The VN-Index snapped a five-trading day gaining streak on Friday as many investors decided to cash in on stocks which had rallied substantially in recent days.

Việt Nam’s benchmark index inched down 0.27 per cent to close Friday at 901.54 points. The Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange’s index gained 3.5 per cent in the previous five trading sessions since August 26.

Blue chips were the main drag as 21 of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity declined while only seven advanced. The two others closed flat.

Banks were hard hit with nine of 10 listed lenders on the southern bourse losing value, with Vietcombank (VCB), VPBank (VPB) and Tiên Phong Bank (TPB) decreasing 1.5 per cent, 1.1 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively.

Losers also included oil and gas companies as the three largest listed firms including PV Gas (GAS), PV Power (POW) and Petrolimex (PLX) all slipped by more than 1 per cent.

On the other end of spectrum, gains from big companies like Vinamilk (VNM), Vincom Retail (VRE) and Masan Group (MSN) cushioned the market.

Securities firms were also gainers. Big names like Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), Ho Chi Minh Securities (HCM), Viet Capital Securities (VCI), FPT Securities (FTS) and VNDirect Securities (VND) increased between 0.8 per cent and 4.1 per cent.

“Various stock sectors have entered overbought zone, thus the market may experience strong volatility and correction during its uptrend,” said Trần Xuân Bách, a stock analyst at Bảo Việt Securities, in a daily market report.

Despite the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Việt Nam’s stock market still rallied in August with the VN-Index increasing 10.4 per cent compared to July, making it the best performer in the world.

Many stocks gained substantially during August’s uptrend as 50 stocks on the three exchanges, the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, Hà Nội Stock Exchange and Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM), jumped by more than 50 per cent in one month while eight stocks increased by more than 20 per cent, including large caps such as Petrolimex, Mobile World Investment (MWG) and Vinaconex.

According to Viet Dragon Securities, the VN-Index is still widening its uptrend and getting close to the old peak of 905 points. This is also a resistance level in the short term, so  investors should still keep their portfolio stable and wait for specific signals.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged up 0.07 per cent to end Friday at 126.15 points.

A total of nearly 399 million shares worth VNĐ7.4 trillion (US$317 million) were traded in the two markets, down 6 per cent in volume and 11 per cent in value compared to the previous session. — VNS