The benchmark VN-Index had kept a fairly stable sideways trajectory throughout the trading day, inching above and below its opening of 843.20 points, before closing just 0.12 points below this level.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 22 stocks losing and 154 gaining. Total trading volume was at VND4.18 trillion ($180.92 million), far below last month’s average trading of VND4.57 trillion per session.

The market would have dropped even more points if not for the positive performance of the VN30, a basket of HoSE’s 30 largest capped stocks this session. The VN30-Index climbed 0.03 percent, with 16 tickers losing and 13 gaining. This basket accounted for 41 percent of total trading volume this session.

Leading gains this session was SSI of top brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., having risen 2.1 percent.

All banking sector blue chips closed in the green this session. Of Vietnam’s three biggest state-owned banks by assets, CTG of VietinBank gained 1.8 percent, BID of BIDV 1 percent, and VCB of Vietcombank 0.2 percent.

MBB of mid-sized state-owned lender Military Bank also added 0.3 percent this session.

In the private sector, EIB of Eximbank topped gains with 0.9 percent, followed by HDB of HDBank with 0.8 percent, STB of Sacombank 0.5 percent, VPB of VPBank 0.5 percent, and TCB of Techcombank 0.3 percent.

Other major gainers included PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex, up 1.1 percent, and MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, with 0.6 percent.

Topping losses this session was VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail, down 1.3 percent, followed by VIC of its parent company, Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup, with 0.8 percent.

Both SAB of major brewer Sabeco and ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros shed 0.8 percent, followed by POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power, GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas, and SBT of agricultural firm TTC-Sugar, all with 0.7 percent.

Other major losing stocks included VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air, down 0.5 percent, PNJ of jewelry retailer Phu Nhuan Jewelry, down 0.4 percent, and VHM of real estate giant Vinhomes, down 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, surged 2.34 percent, while the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market added 0.39 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers for the third straight session, to the tune of VND130 billion ($5.63 million) on all three bourses, focusing on offloading VHM of Vinhomes, VRE of Vincom Retail and HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, which slipped 0.2 percent this session.