VN-Index treads water

The index closed 1.61 points lower after dropping 12.21 points in the previous session.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased by 23% to VND16.04 trillion ($657.84 million).

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 11 tickers gained and 19 fell.

SSB of SeABank dropped 3.4%, followed by VHM of property giant Vinhomes, down 2.2%.

VRE of retail real estate arm Vincom Retail fell 1.9% and SAB of brewer Sabeco closed 1.8% lower.

Eleven blue chips gained, led by HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group with a 2.6% rise.

SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation gained 2.1%, and POW of electricity producer Petrovietnam Power Corporation closed 1.7% higher.

Foreign investors were net seller to the tune of VND372 billion. They mainly net sold VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank and HPG.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 0.24%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went down 0.05%.