Two workers at facilities of Hoà Phát Group (HPG). HPG lost 0.5 per cent yesterday. Photo HPG

HÀ NỘI Tuesday's market witnessed a subdued atmosphere as the weight of declining large-cap stocks exerted pressure on overall trading activities.

On the southern bourse Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index dropped 0.14 per cent, to close at 1,158.59 points. 

The market's breadth turned into the negative zone, with the number of falling stocks surpassing rising ones. Specifically, 340 stocks on HoSE finished lower, while 157 stocks inched higher.

Liquidity fell strongly compared to the previous session, as the trading value and volume on the southern market declined by nearly 10 per cent and 7.3 per cent, respectively, to VNĐ18.4 trillion (US$755 million) and 870 million shares.

The index's downtrend was mainly driven by losses in large-cap stocks. The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks on the southern bourse, dipped by 0.28 per cent, to close the day at 1,160.21 points.

Leading the bearish trend was property developer Vinhomes (VHM), SSI Securities Inc (SSI), Vingroup (VIC), VPBank (VPB), FPT Corporation (FPT), Mobile World Group (MWG), Vincom Retail (VRE), Hòa Phát Group (HPG), Vinamilk (VNM) and Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR). These stocks fell in a range of 0.1-1.5 per cent.

Investors faced a challenging day as market sentiment remained dampened, resulting in a lacklustre performance. The downward movement of prominent stocks contributed to the overall bearish tone observed throughout the trading session, said vietstock.vn.

The decline in large-cap stocks, traditionally considered market leaders, had a significant impact on investor confidence. These stocks play a crucial role in influencing market trends and investor sentiment, and their downward movement can sway market dynamics, it said.

It is expected that the market will continue to struggle at around 1,160 points in the next trading session. However, the supply in this area is still present recently, so a correction after many consecutive increasing sessions may still occur in the near future, said Việt Dragon Securities Co. 

"Therefore, investors need to slow down and observe supply and demand developments. Currently, they should prioritise stocks that have created an accumulation base and have had positive movements recently. In the short term, they should still take advantage of market increases to take profits on stocks that have risen to the resistance zone."

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) also went down on Tuesday. It dipped 0.36 per cent, to 232.50 points.