The index started to fall in the afternoon and closed nearly three points lower.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, dropped 15 percent to VND18.79 trillion.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 19 tickers in the red, led by BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings, down 3.1 percent.

PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex lost 2.2 percent, while MSN of conglomerate Masan Group dropped 1.6 percent.

Eight blue chip tickers gained, with PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development rising 2.4 percent and MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World increasing by 1.4 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the second session to the tune of VND520 billion, with strongest pressure on HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group and SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, gained 0.97 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market lost 0.03 percent.