The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, was again a sea of red with 243 stocks losing and 129 gaining.

Total trading volume fell to its near-lowest level this month, at VND4.63 trillion ($198.21 million), just slightly above daily trading averages between February and April, when the Covid-19 pandemic scared investors off the stock market.

The VN30-Index for the stock market’s 30 biggest caps slid 0.64 percent, with 23 stocks losing and 4 gaining.

Topping losses this session was CTD of construction giant Coteccons, which tumbled 6.1 percent. This is CTD’s second losing session after surging to its ceiling price twice in a row earlier this week.

Next were HDB of private HDBank, down 2.1 percent, SBT of agricultural firm TTC-Sugar, down 1.7 percent, MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, down 1.6 percent, and TCB of private Tecombank, with 1.5 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s largest cap, shed 1.5 percent this session, along with its two subsidiaries, VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail and VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes, which lost 1.3 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

Of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned lenders by assets, VCB of Vietcombank fell 1.2 percent, BID of BIDV dropped 0.7 percent, while CTG of VietinBank shed 0.4 percent. MBB of state-owned mid-sized lender Military Bank also fell 1.1 percent.

Oil and gas stocks were some of the basket’s smallest losers, with PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex edging down 0.1 percent, GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas 0.3 percent, and POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power 1 percent.

MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, and VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk, two of the VN30’s larger capped stocks, lost 0.9 percent and 0.6 percent this session.

In the other direction, STB of private Sacombank led gains with 2.2 percent, followed by NVL of real estate developer Novaland, up 2.1 percent.

HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group added 1.1 percent, and SSI of brokerage Saigon Securities Inc. inched up 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, HNX-Index for stocks on Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, gained 0.33 percent, and UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market edged down 0.19 percent.

Foreign investors turned net tellers to the tune of VND68 billion ($2.91 million) on all three bourses, with buying pressure mostly on HPG of Hoa Phat Group and VRE of Vincom Retail.