Vietnam’s benchmark index had dropped as low as 840 points in the morning session from an opening price of 867.37, but buying pressure in the afternoon helped it claw back more than 20 points at the end of the day.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 257 tickers fall and 125 rise. Total trading volume remained above average at VND7.77 trillion ($333.22 million), with over half of it going towards Vietnam’s 30 biggest market caps, the VN30.

The VN30-Index rose 0.11 percent this session, with 14 shares gaining and an equal number losing.

STB of private Sacombank topped gains this session with 6.8 percent, it’s ceiling price, followed by BID of BIDV, one of Vietnam’s three biggest state owned lenders by assets, with 4.9 percent.

Other major gainers this session included SSI of brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., up 4 percent, HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, up 3.9 percent, and MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, up 3.4 percent.

After hitting their floor prices the previous session, GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas recovered 2.8 percent and PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex gained 1.8 percent while POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power lost 0.5 percent.

Of state-owned banks, CTG of VietinBank and MBB of Military Bank rose 1.5 percent and 0.9 percent respectively, while VCB of Vietcombank shed 2.7 percent.

Leading losses this session was ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros, down 6.8 percent, it’s floor price. Being the smallest capped stock on the VN30, ROS is also one of the most volatile, fluctuating from floor to ceiling in over half of its trading sessions.

However, ROS’s losses this session kicked off when its former chairman Trinh Van Quyet announced he had sold a 1.93 percent stake in the company, and was no longer a major shareholder in it. This is the sixth time Quyet has offloaded his stake in ROS in the past two months, bringing his holding down from 51.3 percent to 4.17 percent.  

It was followed by SBT of agricultural firm TCC-Sugar, down 4.3 percent, VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, down 3.5 percent, and SAB of major brewer Sabeco, 2.8 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, the biggest capped stock on the VN30, shed 1.3 percent this session, while VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes and VRE of retail arm Vincom Retail lost 2 percent and 0.8 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 1.31 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market edged up 0.02 percent.

Foreign investors turned net sellers to the tune of VND260 billion ($11.15 million) on all three bourses, with selling pressure on VNM of Vinamilk and VCB of Vietcombank.