The benchmark index had risen to 764 points in the morning session, but a surge in the number of sell orders in the afternoon brought it down to below its opening level, ending a streak of seven consecutive gaining sessions that added 14.8 percent to the VN-Index.

187 stocks lost and 165 gained on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based. Total trading volume plunged nearly 20 percent over the previous session, to VND4.12 trillion ($176.82 million), of which 79 percent were order-matched transactions.

The VN30-Index for the market’s 30 biggest caps also fell 0.3 percent, with 19 losers and 9 gainers, but no stocks dropped to their floor prices this session.

VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes and VIC of its parent and Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup fell 2.8 percent and 1 percent respectively. The two tickers had the biggest negative impact on the VN-Index this session, costing it a combined 2.26 points, according to data from brokerage firm VNDIRECT.

The next three in terms of impact, losing the market 0.81 points, were shares of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders by assets. BID of BDIV shed 2.1 percent, CTG of VietinBank 1.8 percent, and VCB of Vietcombank 0.6 percent.

Other major losers this session included ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros, down 4.2 percent, HDB of private mid-sized lender HDBank, down 3.1 percent, and BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet Group, down 2.5 percent.

All other stocks in the banking sector lost this session, including STB of private mid-sized lender Sacombank, falling 2 percent, and MBB of state-owned Military Bank, down 1.6 percent.

In the opposite direction, VJC of budget carrier VietJet Air topped gains with 7 percent, its ceiling price, and contributed the highest number of points, 0.95, to the VN-Index.

HVN of national carrier Vietnam Airlines, although not a ticker in the VN30, was the third highest positive impact stock for the VN-Index, also surging 7 percent, its ceiling price, equivalent to a 0.5-point increase for the index.

Other major gainers this session included PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex, up 1.9 percent, REE of appliances maker Refrigerated Electrical Engineering Corp., 1.7 percent, and MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, with 1.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Vietnam’s second main bourse for small and midcap stocks, rose 1.05 percent; while the UPCoM-Index for unlisted public companies fell 0.22 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers on all three bourses to the tune of VND112 billion ($4.8 million), with selling pressure mostly on VIC of Vingroup and HDB of HDBank.