The index fluctuated in the morning and stayed in the red in the afternoon before closing nearly 6 points down.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the index is based, fell 4.2 percent to VND20.31 trillion ($883 million). The session saw 148 tickers gain and 262 lose.

The VN30 basket, comprising the index’s 30 largest capped stocks, saw 23 tickers in the red, led by POW of electricity firm Petrovietnam Power Corporation, down 3.1 percent. This was its biggest loss in the last six sessions.

VNM of diary giant Vinamilk fell 2.6 percent, pulling the index down by 1.34 points. The ticker has fallen nearly 23 percent since this year’s peak on January 12.

VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank dropped 1.9 percent and was a top contributor to pulling the index down this session by 1.88 points.

REE of industrial appliance maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation was the biggest blue-chip gainer this session, up 4.4 percent.

TCB of biggest private lender Techcombank rose 2.5 percent to its new historic peak, its sixth gaining session in the row.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the fourth session in a row to the tune of VND1.1 trillion, the highest in the last 16 sessions, with the strongest selling pressure on VPB of private lender VPBank, VNM and HPG of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, was up 0.06 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market was up 0.64 percent.