A worker collects latex at a rubber plantation owned by Vietnam Rubber Group. The company's shares soared 1.76 per cent on Friday, lifting the market's sentiment. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Indices were little changed on Friday as investors were reluctant to join the market when only one week was left until the end of 2023.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the market’s benchmark VN-Index settled higher on a choppy session. It closed the week at 1,103.06 points, an increase of 0.63 points, or 0.06 per cent. The index retreated in the morning trade with a loss of 0.14 per cent. 

However, the market’s breadth was still negative, with 133 stocks rising and 176 declining. Liquidity stayed low as the trading value was worth over VNĐ12.2 trillion (US$505.4 million). 

The 30 biggest stocks tracker, VN30-Index, was steady at 1,097.45 points. In the VN30 basket, nine ticker symbols inched higher, while 14 declined and seven ended flat. 

In contrast, the HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) could not keep the uptrend today. It was traded at 228.27 points, down 0.21 points or 0.09 per cent. 

Nearly 86 million shares were traded during the session on the northern bourse, worth over VNĐ1.68 trillion. 

The pressure from sellers was not strong enough to push the market significantly lower, while the buying force was also limit ed. This tug-of-war situation kept the VN-Index hovering around the 1,100-point threshold.

The final trading sessions of the financial year 2023 are approaching, and there is no motivation for the market to change. Neither buyers nor sellers were able to create significant pressure. 

A few large-cap stocks largely determined the market’s direction today.

Leading the positive trend were mostly bank stocks. Of these, BIDV (BID) was the biggest gainer, as the lender's shares posted a gain of 1.56 per cent. It was followed by Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Sacombank (STB), MBBank (MBB) and Liên Việt Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank (LPB). All the stocks rose in a range of 0.83-2.26 per cent. 

Conversely, manufacturing stocks dominated the downtrend, with Masan Group (MSN) posting the greatest loss of 1.1 per cent. 

Other big names contributing to the bear market were Hoà Phát Group (HPG), down 0.55 per cent; Sabeco (SAB), dropped 0.81 per cent; and FPT Corporation (FPT), dipped 0.53 per cent.

Also weighing on the market, foreign investors kept withdrawing capital from the biggest bourse, HoSE. In particular, they net sold VNĐ506.76 billion on HoSE, but net bought VNĐ8.41 billion on HNX.