The index started off in the red and kept falling throughout the day, ending with a near 33-point drop.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, fell 4 percent to VND19.24 trillion ($837 million), the lowest in the last four sessions.

The bourse was a sea of red with 340 tickers losing and 91 gaining.

Twenty-six out of 30 largest capped stocks fell, led by GAS of state-owned Petrovietnam Gas, down 5.2 percent to a near 11-week low.

The ticker has lost 5.9 percent this year.

VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank fell 5.2 percent, while VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes dropped 5.1 percent.

The two tickers, along with VIC of biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, were the top three contributors in pulling the index down this session by a total 16 points.

MSN of conglomerate Masan Group and VRE of retail real estate arm Vincom Retail fell 5 percent.

Foreign investors were net buyers for the second session in a row to the tune of VND69 billion, with strongest pressure on NVL of real estate developer Novaland Group and PDR of Phat Dat Real Estate Development.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, fell 1.04 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market, dropped 1.22 percent.