The index rose to 1,364 points in the first 30 minutes, but selling intensified after stocks trading board showed signs of delays in data delivery. The index plunged and stayed in the red for the rest of the trading session, closing with a near 39 point fall, the biggest loss since April 22.
Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, rose 4.7 percent to VND30.29 trillion ($1.3 billion). The bourse saw 321 tickers lose and 94 gain.
The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 26 stocks in the red with tickers of three lenders, VietinBank, Techcombank, and Vietcombank, pulling VN-Index down by 8.7 points.
CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank was the top contributor to the fall, dragging the index down by over 3 points as it slipped 5.8 percent.
TCB of the biggest private lender Techcombank experienced its second session in the red, dropping 5.5 percent. It has gained 57 percent this year.
VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank ended a three session gaining streak with a 2.9 percent fall.
The biggest blue-chip losers this session were tickers of two private banks, HDB of HDBank and STB of Sacombank, both plunging 6.8 percent each.
Only four blue-chip tickers were in the green, led by VJC of budget carrier Vietjet, which rose 4.8 percent. The ticker has been in the green for the last five sessions.
It was followed by SBT of sugar producer Thanh Thanh Cong – Bien Hoa JSC, up 1.4 percent, REE of industrial appliance maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation, up 0.4 percent, and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, up 0.3 percent.
Foreign investors were net sellers for the seventh session in a row to the tune of VND362.6 billion, with strongest selling pressures on DXG of real estate firm Dat Xanh Group, HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, and VIC of biggest private conglomerate Vingroup.
The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 3.84 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 2.99 percent.