The index dipped below its opening price in the morning and stayed in the red for the whole morning session, but gradually made its way up by the end of afternoon. It closed with a 3.4 point gain. It lost over 10 points in the previous session.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 219 stocks gain and 165 lose, with trading value falling 3.9 percent over the previous session to VND22.52 trillion ($979.04 million). This was the fourth consecutive session that trading value has fallen.

The VN30 basket, comprising the index’s 30 largest capped stocks, saw 14 tickers in the green, led by SBT of sugar producer Thanh Thanh Cong – Bien Hoa JSC that reached its ceiling at 6.9 percent.

REE of industrial appliance maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation rose 5.4 percent to a new peak. The ticker has not been in the red for five sessions in a row and has gained 22.5 percent this year.

MBB of Military Bank was up 3.1 percent. The ticker was 4 percent away from its previous peak of June 4. It has risen 73.5 percent since the start of this year.

Other blue-chip gainers included POW of electricity producer Petrovietnam Power Corporation, up 2.9 percent, and BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings, up 2.8 percent.

On the other side, VIC of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup was the top blue-chip loser, falling 1.8 percent. It dragged the index down by nearly 2 points.

NVL of real estate developer Novaland Group and TCH of real estate company Hoang Huy Investment Financial Services both dropped 1.3 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the second session in a row to the tune of VND115.77 billion, with selling pressure strongest on HPG of steel giant Hoa Phat Group, CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank, and MBB.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, was up 1.09 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market grew 0.82 percent.