A LNG storage of PV Gas. Shares of the company tumbled nearly 1.7 per cent on Thursday, leading the market's downtrend. — Photo pvgas.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Shares were mixed on Thursday as a profit-taking force after recent rallies weighed on the market, while foreign capital witnessed the largest withdrawal in more than a month. 

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) finished the day at 1,248.64 points, down 1.82 points, or 0.15 per cent. The reversal ended the six-day streak of rising.

On the southern bourse, the breadth was negative as 180 stocks ticked down while 143 increased. Liquidity hovered above VNĐ20 trillion (US$786.4 million) but decreased by 13 per cent from the previous session. 

The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE by market capitalisation, also dropped 3.38 per cent, or 0.26 per cent, to 1,281.47 points. The number of decliners surpassed gainers in the VN30 basket by 16 to 13. And one stock ended flat. 

According to the Saigon-Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS), the market is experiencing rising selling pressure as the VN-Index approaches a significant resistance level, leading to continued fluctuations and uncertainty.

"In the mid-term, the VN-Index has backed to the accumulation range of 1,150 - 1,250 points after a significant recent correction. And the market is expected to continue struggling," SHS said. 

Large-cap stocks in oil and gas, banking and manufacturing sectors led the market's downturn with PV Gas (GAS) posting the biggest fall in the market capitalisation, down 1.68 per cent. 

It was followed by Vietcombank (VCB), Vinamilk (VNM), BIDV (BID), Sabeco (SAB) and Hòa Phát Group (HPG). All the stocks dipped in a range of 0.5-2.2 per cent. 

Securities stocks also saw poor performance today, such as SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) declined 1.26 per cent, SHS fell 1.05 per cent, VIX Securities Company (VIX) tumbled 1.43 per cent and VNDirect Securities Corporation (VND) dipped 1.44 per cent. 

However, losses were capped by gains in some pillar stocks, led by Becamex (BCM), which was up over 6.4 per cent, Vietnam Airlines (HVN) increased by 5.58 per cent, and Vietinbank (CTG) rose 0.92 per cent. 

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index finished flat at 234.58 points. Nearly 86.7 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth more than VNĐ1.7 trillion. 

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers on the market, particularly on the southern exchange. They net sold over VNĐ1.7 trillion on HoSE, but net bought VNĐ22.78 billion on HNX. — VNS