HÀ NỘI — The market ended mixed on Thursday, with red dominating the board as investors' risk appetite weakened while foreign investors continued to net sell a large amount on the main exchanges. 

On the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index closed at 1,863.07 points, down 14.95 points, or 0.8 per cent, versus the previous session. Today's movement snapped its streak of gains for three days straight. 

During the session, the index even briefly slipped below the 1,860-point mark.

The breadth of the market was still in the negative zone, as 177 stocks declined and 119 ticker symbols rose. Liquidity remained at a low level, reaching over VNĐ16 trillion (US$621 million).

The 30 biggest stocks tracker, the VN30-Index, also fell 5.53 points to 2,004.62 points. Within the VN30 basket, 18 stocks decreased while eight inched higher and four finished flat. 

Real estate was one of the biggest sources of pressure, with the sector index down 1.73 per cent.

Several large-cap names closed in negative territory, including Vingroup (VIC), Vinhomes (VHM), Vincom Retail (VRE), Novaland (NVL) and Ba Ria - Vung Tau House Development (HDC). These stocks dropped in a range of 1.9-2.4 per cent. Of which, VIC was the biggest dragger of the benchmark index. The stock alone erased nearly nine points from the index. 

The energy group was described as the biggest decliner, falling 2.58 per cent. Multiple oil-and-gas stocks came under selling pressure, with Petrovietnam Refining and Petrochemical Corporation (BSR) tumbling 3.72 per cent, PetroVietnam Chemical and Services (PVC) down 4.48 per cent, PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS) falling 2.06 per cent, Petrolimex (PLX) down 1.46 per cent, and PV Drilling (PVD) dropping 1.10 per cent.

The group's poor performance was attributed to corrections of global crude oil prices as they fell to levels last seen before the start of the Iran war.

In contrast, the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) finished higher at 319.44 points, up 1.2 points. Nearly 45 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VNĐ615.6 billion. 

Also adding pressure to the market, foreign investors maintained net selling, offloading over VNĐ1 trillion on HoSE and VNĐ24.24 billion on HNX. — BIZHUB/VNS