The index had actually risen to the green in the late-morning and early-afternoon trading periods, but fell back into the red in the final hour of trading. Analysts attribute the fall to bottom-fishing pressure.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw a fairly balanced session with 208 losers and 202 gainers. Total trading volume went down by 10 percent over the previous session to VND8 trillion ($345.5 million).

The VN30-Index for the stock market’s 30 largest caps shed 0.25 percent, with 14 stocks losing and 14 gaining.

Leading losses were Vietnam’s three biggest lenders by assets, with CTG of VietinBank falling 2.7 percent, BID of BIDV, 1.7 percent, and VCB of Vietcombank, 0.7 percent.

Results in the private banking sector were mixed, with TCB of Techcombank down 1.6 percent and EIB of Eximbank down 0.3 percent, while STB of Sacombank and HDB of HDBank were some of the best gainers, up 3.1 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.

In the oil and gas sector, GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas shed 1.3 percent and POW of electricity generator PetroVietnam Power was down 0.9 percent, while PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex added 1.5 percent.

VJC of budget carrier Vietjet Air, a business heavily affected by the oil and gas sector, fell 1.6 percent.

Other major losers this session included MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World, down 2.6 percent, MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, also down 2.6 percent, and TCH of truck dealer Hoang Huy Group, down 1.6 percent.

In the opposite direction, VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSE’s biggest cap, gained 0.5 percent. Its subsidiaries, VHM of real estate developer Vinhomes and VRE of mall operator Vincom Retail, added 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

Other major gainers included SSI of top brokerage Saigon Securities Inc., up 2.4 percent, ROS of construction firm FLC Faros, up 1.8 percent, and MBB of mid-sized state-owned lender Military Bank, up 1.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid- and small-caps, was up 0.25 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Companies Market edged up 0.02 percent.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers this session to the tune of over VND340 billion on all three bourses. The most net sold stocks were again MSN of food conglomerate Masan Group, and VRE of Vincom Retail.