The index lost nearly 51 points with the majority of blue chips ending in the red. It has fallen three sessions in a row, losing a total 92 points.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, rose 23 percent to VND31.62 trillion ($1.38 billion). The bourse saw 374 tickers end in the red and 36 gain.

The VN30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 26 tickers lose, led by VPB of private lender VPBank and CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank, down 7 percent and 6.9 percent respectively.

Other major losers included SBT of sugar producer Thanh Thanh Cong – Bien Hoa JSC, down 6.9 percent, BID of state-owned lender BIDV, down 6.5 percent and TCH of real estate company Hoang Huy Investment Financial Services, down 6.3 percent.

Four bluechip tickers bucked the trend, led by MSN of conglomerate Masan Group with a 2.6 percent gain, followed by NVL of real estate developer Novaland Group, up 1.5 percent.

VJC of budget airline Vietjet rose 0.9 percent, while MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World gained 0.1 percent, its fourth gaining session in a row.

Foreign investors were net buyers to the tune of VND1.4 trillion. They have been net buying in four out of the past five sessions.

Strongest buying pressure was seen in STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank and SSI of leading brokerage SSI Securities Corporation.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, lost 4.48 percent while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market fell 3.66 percent.