The benchmark VN-Index had plunged over 4 points from its opening 876.83 points within the first 30 minutes of trading, and hovered around that level for the rest of the day.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 190 stocks in the red and 162 in the green, with none fluctuating to either floor or ceiling price.

Total trading volume improved marginally over the previous period, reaching VND4.8 trillion ($207.13 million), but remained far below last month’s VND6.67 trillion ($287.6 million) average.

The VN30-Index for the stock market’s 30 largest caps dropped 0.69 percent, with 20 tickers losing and 7 gaining.

Topping losses was VJC of budget carrier Vietjet, down 2.7 percent, followed by TCB of private Techcombank, down 1.9 percent.

VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s biggest capped stock, sank 1.6 percent, shaving 1.45 points off the VN-Index, according to data from brokerage VNDIRECT. VRE of its retail arm Vincom Retail shed 1.6 percent, while VHM of its real estate arm Vinhomes fell 1.2 percent.

Other major losing stocks this session included MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group and REE of appliances maker Refrigerated Electrical Engineering, both falling 1.4 percent, FPT of IT services giant FPT, and POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power, both down 1 percent.

Among private banks, EIB of Eximbank and HDB of HDBank both dropped 0.9 percent, STB of Sacombank kept its opening price, while VPB of VPBank led gains, going up 2 percent.

State-owned banking stocks were also a mixed bag, with VCB of Vietcombank falling 0.8 percent, CTG of VietinBank and MBB of Military Bank keeping their opening prices, while BID of BIDV added 0.6 percent.

Among other gainers were PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex, up 1.4 percent, CTD of construction giant Coteccons, 1.3 percent, and BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet Group, 0.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, climbed 1.06 percent; and the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market rose 0.95 percent.

Foreign investors turned net buyers on all three bourses to the tune of VND640 million ($27,590), with buying pressure mostly on VNM of Vinamilk, which shed 0.6 percent, MBB of Military Bank, and stocks on the UPCoM.