A worker collects rubber latex at a plantation of the Vietnam Rubber Group. The rubber producer's shares soared nearly 1.2 per cent on Friday, easing the market's losses. — VNA/VNS Photo

The VN-Index closed the week on a negative note, extending its corrections to a second day after soaring above 1,270 points on Wednesday. Foreign investors, meanwhile, net sold over VNĐ1 trillion on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE).

The benchmark index was down 0.48 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 1,263.78 points.

On the southern bourse, more than 170 stocks were traded higher while 141 ticker symbols ticked up. Liquidity stayed high at more than VNĐ27.5 trillion (US$1.1 billion), equivalent to a trading volume of nearly 1.1 billion shares.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, also dropped 3.9 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 1,256.42 points.

In the VN30 basket, 13 stocks increased, 15 inched lower and two ended flat.

Saigon - Hanoi Securities SJC (SHS) said that the corrections are normal movements after the index returns to the short-term peak.

“Even though the VN-Index is likely to reach a strong resistance level of 1,300 points in the near future, the previous rallies breaching 1,250 points are not reliable enough,” said SHS.

As a result, “the risk of fluctuations is high. We believe that after the bullish momentum ends, the VN-Index will adjust back to the area of 1,150-1,250 points.”

Statistics from a financial website vietstock.vn showed that Vingroup (VIC) posted the biggest loss on Friday, down 3.37 per cent. It was followed by Vietcombank (VCB), Vinhomes (VHM), Vinamilk (VHM) and FPT Corportaion (FPT). All stocks declined in a range of 0.85-1.17 per cent.

The losses were capped by gains in some large-cap stocks. Particularly, Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) was the bullish trend’s leader, up 1.18 per cent.

Other stocks cushioning the downturn were PV Gas (GAS), up 1.6 per cent, BIDV (BID) climbed 0.97 per cent, Vietnam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB) soared nearly 3.7 per cent and MBBank (MBB) rose 1.5 per cent.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index snapped the streak of three-day gains, down 0.14 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 239.96 points.

Investors poured over VNĐ2.3 trillion into the northern bourse, equal to a trading volume of 114.3 million shares.

Foreign investors continued to withdraw capital from the market as they net sold over VNĐ1.3 trillion on HoSE.