The benchmark VN-Indexon the HCM Stock Exchange lost value for the first time in the last three days,dropping 0.43 percent to close at 740.93 points. The southern market indexincreased 2.34 percent in the last two sessions.
On the Hanoi StockExchange, the HNX-Index inched down 0.88 percent to end at 91.90 points.
Only one of nine listedbanks maintained growth on May 23, while seven fell.
Two of the three biggestlisted lenders by market value and total assets including Vietcombank (VCB),Vietinbank (CTG) decreased by 0.8 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively. BIDV(BID) was the only gainer with modest growth of 0.8 percent.
The banking sectorrecorded an average loss of 1.72 percent, data on vietstock.vn showed.
On May 22, theGovernment submitted a new resolution on bad debts to the National Assembly,which is expected to facilitate and speed up the process of settling bad debts.Many analysts predicted another rising wave for bank stocks.
This did not happen asinvestors increased selling on bank stocks to make quick profits.
“The market is in thecorrection stage after a strong rally on Monday. Declining liquidity andwidening negative market breadth show investors’ caution about over-excitementof yesterday’s trade,” analysts at BIDV Securities Co wrote in a report.
These analysts predictedthe VN-Index would continue to test the support threshold of 740 points andlikely move around this level in the coming sessions.
The VN-Index expanded3.2 percent this month and 11.4 percent this year.
According to the VietnamInvestment Securities Co, many stocks have risen excessively in the short termwhich lifted the VN-Index to a 10-year peak and surpassed its real value. Thebrokerage firm said this upward momentum was pushed up by high leverages andcautioned it could create pressure of massive selling when the market correcteddown.
On the positive side,growth of large-cap shares such as dairy giant Vinamilk (0.5 percent), localbrewer Sabeco (0.8 percent) and the largest mobile phone retailer Mobile WorldGroup (0.4 percent) cushioned the market.
Liquidity declined witha total of 327.6 million shares worth a combined 5.4 trillion VND (roughly 240million USD) traded in the two markets, down 10.4 percent in volume and 21.7 percentin value compared to the previous session’s figures.
Foreign investorscontinued to comb local shares but their net buy value decreased by asubstantial 72 percent from the previous session, reaching 135 billion VND inthe two markets.-VNA