An investor looks at stock prices on the screens at a
brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. 

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index fell 0.6 percent to 1,258.70 points Monday, with Vinamilk and Masan tickers pulling it down by nearly 2.5 points. 

The index rose by up to 11 points in the morning but started gradually falling during the rest of the day to close with a near 8-point drop.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, rose 3.6 percent to VND22.82 trillion ($993 million). The bourse saw 278 tickers lose and 141 gain.

VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk was the biggest contributor to VN-Index’s loss this session, pulling it down by 1.28 points.

The ticker continued its downward trend that began mid-January, having lost 25 percent since.

MSN of conglomerate Masan Group dragged the index down by 1.22 points. It was the biggest blue-chip loser this session with a 3.6 percent drop from its new all-time peak made last week.

VIC of biggest private conglomerate Vingroup brought the index down by 1.17 points. It fell 1 percent this session, having lost 14 percent in the last four weeks.

Bucking the trend, VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes led blue-chip gains this session with a 3.7 percent increase after publishing a plan to increase this year’s profit by 24 percent from last year’s.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the fifth session in a row to the tune of VND1.04 trillion, with strongest pressure on VPB of private lender VPBank and VNM.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 0.7 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 0.72 percent.