The index remained in the red throughout the day and closed with a near 11-point drop to its lowest in the last four sessions.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, fell 2.5 percent to VND15.4 trillion ($666 million). The bourse saw 110 stocks gain and 359 lose.

Four banks, three of them state-owned, were among the top 10 tickers with the biggest impact on the VN-Index drop, pulling it down by 3.6 points.

VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank fell 1.2 percent. The ticker has lost over 10 percent since its all-time peak on Jan. 7.

BID of state-owned lender BIDV dropped 2.1 percent to a six-day low.

TCB of the largest private lender Techcombank also fell 2.1 percent, its second session in the red after climbing to a new all-time high last Friday.

CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank fell 1.5 percent from its all-time peak on Monday.

On the winning side, four tickers ended in the green led by PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development JSC, up 2.9 percent.

FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation gained a marginal 0.1 percent after two falling sessions in a row.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the 22nd session in a row to the tune of VND288 billion, the lowest in the last five sessions.

Selling pressure was strongest on VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, CTG and VCB.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 0.91 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market dropped 0.17 percent.