An investor stands in front of screens showing stock prices at
a brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. 

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index rose 0.13 percent to 1,175.04 points Monday, but afternoon selling pressure saw most tickers close in the red. 

The index spent the morning mostly in the green and even exceeded the 1,180 mark several times, but as investors started selling early afternoon, it closed with a marginal 1.5-point increase.

Trading volume rose 3.7 percent over the previous session to VND15.3 trillion ($664 million). The bourse saw 199 stocks gain and 231 lose.

The VN30 basket, which comprises the 30 largest capped stocks on the HoSE, saw only eight in the green, led by VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes, up 2.6 percent.

It was followed by PLX of fuel distributor Petrolimex, up 1.8 percent.

Three lenders made up the rest of the top five gainers, led by HDB of HDBank, up 1 percent, VPB of VPBank, up 0.9 percent, and TPB of TPBank, up 0.7 percent.

FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation rose 0.3 percent. The ticker has been among the strongest gainers of the VN30 basket in recent weeks, rising 31 percent since the end of January, when the VN-Index plunged.

Twenty VN30 stocks ended in the red, once again led by SBT of sugar producer Thanh Thanh Cong – Bien Hoa Jsc, down 3.7 percent.

Other top losers were REE of industrial appliance maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation (REE), down 2.7 percent, PNJ of Phu Nhuan Jewelry and TCH of trucks distributor and assemblers Hoang Huy Investment Financial Services Jsc, both down 2.1 percent.

Several banks were in the red, led by BID of state-owned BIDV, down 0.8 percent, followed by VCB of state-owned Vietcombank, down 0.7 percent, and MBB of Military Bank, down 0.6 percent.

Foreign investors were once again net sellers to the tune of VND613 billion, compared to VND10 billion in the last session. Sales was dominated by several tickers including HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, went up 2.94 percent; and the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market gained 0.58 percent.