A worker operates a production line at a Vinamilk factory. Shares of VInamilk (VNM) dropped 1.9 per cent on Tuesday. Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

HÀ NỘI Shares corrected on Tuesday after two gaining sessions as recent rallies triggered a massive sell-off among investors to lock in profits.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange lost 0.83 per cent to end the trading session at 1,055.27 points.

The southern market index had gained 3.2 per cent in the last two days.

More than 675 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ13.5 trillion (US$584 million).

Market breadth was negative with 262 decliners and 181 gainers.

“The VN-Index mainly fluctuated around the reference level from the beginning of the morning session to the middle of the afternoon, but selling pressure at the end of the session caused the index to correct to around 1,055,” said BIDV Securities Co.

“Meanwhile, foreign investors continued to be net sellers on the HSX and net buyers on the HNX. Market breadth turned to negative and liquidity continued to increase compared to the previous session.

“In our opinion, this correction is not enough to change the trend and VN-Index is likely to remain above 1,050 in the coming sessions,” the company said.

Foreign investors net sold VNĐ823.25 billion on HOSE, including Vinamilk (VNM) with VNĐ218.1 billion, Vincom Retail (VRE) with VNĐ148.8 billion and SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) with VNĐ84.1 billion. Foreigners were net buyers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ1.31 billion.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index was down 1.1 per cent to 1,013.02 points.

Twenty-four of the 30 large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket decreased while three increased.

Large-caps suffered from profit-taking pressure, including Vietcombank (VCB), down 2.1 per cent, VPBank (VPB), decreasing 2.1 per cent, Vinamilk (VNM), dropping 1.9 per cent, PetroVietnam Gas JSC (GAS), losing 1.8 per cent and Hoà Phát Group (HPG), declining 1.7 per cent.

Twelve out of 25 sectors indices on the stock market lost ground, including retail, insurance, IT, energy, banking, food and beverage and construction materials.

They dropped between 0.2 and 1.2 per cent.

On the opposite side, gainers were seafood processing, rubber production, construction, logistics, wholesale, real estate, securities and healthcare.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rose 1.28 per cent to close Tuesday at 167.87 points.

Nearly 116 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ1.4 trillion. — VNS