The index of the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) was mostly in the red throughout the day, and closed down 0.88 points after gaining over 59 points in the last two days.

The bourse saw 203 stocks gain and 230 lose, with trading volume falling 6.4 percent to VND14.75 trillion ($548 million).

Twenty-two of 30 stocks in the VN30 basket, which comprises the largest capped stocks on the index, ended in the red, led by SBT of sugar producer Thanh Thanh Cong – Bien Hoa Jsc, down 2.1 percent.

It was followed by FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation, down 2 percent, and REE of industrial appliance maker Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation, down 1.7 percent.

Several bank stocks fell, with VPB of private lender VPBank down 1.7 percent, VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank down 0.7 percent, and TCB of the largest private lender Techcombank down 0.5 percent.

Real estate companies were also among the losers, with NVL of Novaland Group down 1.5 percent, KDH of real estate firm Khang Dien House down 1.2 percent and VRE of retail real estate arm Vincom Retail down 1 percent.

But some lenders bucked the trend, with MBB of Military Bank gaining 2.5 percent, the highest rise in the VN30 basket, followed by BID of state-owned lender BIDV, up 1.6 percent, and STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank, up 0.5 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of VND12.85 billion on the HoSE, with sales dominated by CTG of state-owned lender VietinBank, HSG of steelmaker Hoa Sen Group and MBB.

In contrast to the VN-Index, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, went up 0.22 percent; and the UPCoM-Index for stocks on the Unlisted Public Companies Market added 0.78 percent.