VN-Index heads sideways after surge

The index closed 0.49 points higher after gaining 11.87 points Monday.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange fell by 3.63% to VND14.95 trillion ($638.47 million).

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 18 tickers drop.

BID of state-owned lender BIDV ended its gain streak with a 1.2% drop.

CTG of lender Vietinbank, VJC of budget airline Vietjet, VIC of the biggest conglomerate Vingroup and VRE of its subsidiary Vincom Retail all fell 0.8%.

Other losers included BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings and VPB of private lender VPBank, both down 0.7%.

Twelve blue chips rose, led by PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex with a 2.7% gain.

HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat and MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World followed, surging 2.3% and 1.5%, respectively.

Foreign investors were net buyers for the fifth straight session to the tune of VND531.66 billion. They focused on buying HPG, PVD of Petrovietnam Drilling & Well Services, and HDB of lender HDBank.

The HNX-Index at the Hanoi Stock Exchange, where mid and small caps list, fell 0.31% while the UPCoM-Index at the Unlisted Public Companies Market rose 0.22%.