The index closed 3.56 points lower after gaining 0.77 points in the previous session.
Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased by 41% to VND12.899 trillion (US$524 million).
The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 19 tickers fell.
SSB of lender SeABank saw the biggest drop of 3.6%, followed by VRE of retail real estate arm Vincom Retail with a 2.6% decline and PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex, down 1.6%.
Nine blue chips gained. BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings increased by 1.6%, SSI of brokerage SSI Securities Corporation closed 1.4% higher, TPB of private lender TPBank went up 1.1%.
Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND214 billion, mainly buying FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation and MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World.
The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 0.39%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went down 0.04%.
Globally, MSCI'S broad index of world stocks held steady after two weeks of gains and its gauge of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.3% after bouncing 2.7% last week, Reuters reported.
Singapore's main index climbing to its highest since late 2007. Stock markets in Tokyo were closed for a holiday but futures trading suggested these recent laggards would join the party with Nikkei contracts were trading at 38,510 compared to a cash close of 37,723.