The benchmark index continued its upward momentum from last session in the morning trading period, jumping to 963.4 points in the first 15 minutes of trading, but fell gradually over the course of the day to just under its opening of 951.99 points.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw a fairly balanced session with 227 gainers and 203 losers. Total trading volume soared nearly 25 percent over the previous session, reaching VND9.56 trillion ($410.85 million).

The VN30-Index for the market’s biggest caps shed 0.1 percent, with 16 tickers losing and 11 gaining.

In this group, KDH of real estate developer Khang Dien House topped losses with 1.6 percent, followed by PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry, with 1.4 percent, and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, with 1.2 percent.

Most state-owned banks also finished in the red. CTG of VietinBank shed 1.1 percent, MBB of mid-sized Military Bank was down 0.8 percent and VCB of Vietcombank fell 0.5 percent. BID of BIDV rose 0.4 percent.

Private banks saw mixed results. While STB of Sacombank and VPB of VPBank fell 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent, respsectively, EIB of Eximbank kept its opening price. HDB of HDBank and TCB of Techcombank both edged up 0.2 percent.

Other major losing stocks included SAB of brewer Sabeco, down 0.9 percent, VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes, 0.8 percent, and FPT of IT services giant FPT, 0.7 percent.

In the opposite direction, VJC of budget carrier Vietjet topped gains with 7 percent, its ceiling price.

According to analysts, the market had reacted to a Monday press release by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech, claiming that their Covid-19 vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, was more than 90 percent effective at preventing infection.

Off the VN30, stocks in aviation and airport services rose in unison. HVN of national carrier Vietnam Airlines soared 5.77 percent, ACV of airports operator ACV 4.6 percent, and SAS of Southern Airports Services JSC climbed 4.12 percent.

Other major gainers on the VN30 this session included VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail, up 2.3 percent, SSI of brokerage Saigon Securities Inc. and GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, both up 1.1 percent, and NVL of real estate developer Novaland, up 0.8 percent.

The HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-caps, was up 0.2 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Companies Market gained 0.22 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers to the tune of nearly VND750 billion on all three bourses. The most net sold stocks were MSN of Masan Group, down 0.2 percent, and HPG of Hoa Phat Group, down 0.6 percent.