The index plummeted within the first 15 minutes of trading, when At-The-Open orders are executed, to as low as 883 points. It remained at that level for most of the trading session, until buying pressure towards the end saw it recover to near its opening level.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 185 stocks lose and 202 gain. Total trading volume was VND6 trillion ($258.06 million), higher than last month’s average of VND5 trillion per session.

The VN30-Index for the market’s 30 biggest capped stocks slid 0.38 percent, with 20 tickers losing and 8 gaining.

Private banking stocks were some of the worst performers. EIB of Eximbank and TCB of Techcombank topped losses with 1.8 percent and 1.4 percent respectively, followed by HDB of HDBank, down 1 percent, and VPB of VPBank, down 0.2 percent.

Among losing state-owned banks, CTG of VietinBank shed 1 percent, VCB of Vietcombank, 0.4 percent, BID of BIDV, 0.1 percent, and MBB of mid-sized Military Bank, 0.3 percent.

STB of private Sacombank was the only banking ticker in the green, rising 0.4 percent.

Oil and gas stocks also fell this session. PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex was down 0.6 percent, POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power, 0.5 percent, and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, 0.4 percent.

Other major losers included real estate developers ROS of FLC Faros, TCH of Hoang Huy Group, and KDH of Khang Dien House, down 0.9 percent, 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s biggest cap, kept its opening price, while VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes added 0.1 percent, and VRE of retail arm Vincom Retail rose 0.4 percent.

REE of appliances maker Refrigerated Electrical Engineering, which led gains, rose 1.2 percent, and was the only ticker in the VN30 to have gained above 0.4 percent this session.

Other notable gainers included MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, up 0.4 percent, and SSI of top brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., and MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, both up 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-capped stocks, went up 0.9 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market added 0.03 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of VND172 billion on all three bourses, with buying pressure mostly on HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, down 0.6 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.