The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 196 tickers rising and 197 falling. Total trading volume halved over the previous session to VND5.5 trillion ($237.84 million), but was still higher than last month’s daily average of VND5 trillion.

The VN30-Index for the market’s 30 largest caps slid 0.04 percent, with 17 tickers losing and 10 gaining. The basket accounted for 42 percent of total trading volume, with the rest going towards other big- and mid- caps on the HoSE.

In previous reports, various securities firms have observed that cash flow had been flowing towards stocks outside the VN30 basket in the past four weeks, contrary to the vast majority of the time when these blue chips took up over 50 percent of trading volume each session.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that most businesses, regardless of size, are reporting declining business results, investors have been trying to find new opportunities in less well-known stocks, as long as they can show good financials, analysts said.

Topping losses on the VN30 was PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex and REE of appliances maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering, both down 0.8 percent.

Other major losers this session included VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, down 0.7 percent, SSI of top brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., with 0.6 percent, and MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, with 0.5 percent.

Results were mixed in the private banking sector, with TCB of Techcombank and EIB of Eximbank some of the biggest losers, down 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent respectively, while HDB of HDBank topped gains with 3.6 percent.

Of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders by assets, CTG of VietinBank rose 1.2 percent, VCB of Vietcombank added 0.2 percent, while BID of BIDV shed 0.1 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s largest cap, added 0.7 percent this session. VRE of its retail arm Vincom Retail kept its opening price, and VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes lost 0.5 percent.

Other major gainers included KDH of Khang Dien House and ROS of FLC Faros, both real estate developers, up 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-capped stocks, added 0.31 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market rose 0.1 percent.

Foreign investors turned net sellers to the tune of nearly VND300 billion on all three bourses, with selling pressure mainly on VHM of Vinhomes and HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, which shed 0.4 percent this session.