Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index fell 0.37% to 1,251.71 points Friday while global shares increased.

Investors look at stock prices on a screen at a brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran 

The index closed 4.64 points lower after gaining 3.08 points in the previous session.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange increased by 7% to VND11.173 trillion (US$455.2 million).

The VN-30 basket, comprising the 30 largest capped stocks, saw 18 tickers fell.

VNM of dairy giant Vinamilk saw the biggest drop of 2.4%, followed by GAS of state-owned Petrovietnam Gas with a 2.3% decline and MSN of conglomerate Masan Group, down 1.2%.

Ten blue chips gained. VRE of retail real estate arm Vincom Retail went up 1.6%, SSB of SeABank closed 1.3% higher, and SAB of brewer Sabeco increased by 1.26%.

Foreign investors were net seller to the tune of VND73 billion, mainly selling VHM of property giant Vinhomes and MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 0.22%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market went up 0.28%.

Global shares rose for a fifth day on Friday, up 0.2%, thanks to gains in Europe, where the STOXX 600 rallied 0.4%, heading for a weekly gain of 2.6%, the most in a month, Reuters reported.

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $2,360.95 per ounce after hitting a two-week high in the previous session. Bullion gained over 1% so far for the week.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rallied 0.53%.

Minh Hieu (Source: e.vnexpress.net)