The market witnessed strong corrections on both exchanges last week because of heavy profit taking.

However, analysts suggest that this is an opportunity for investors to buy shares while awaiting third-quarter business results.

The benchmark VN-Index lost a cumulative 3.05 percent during the week, closing the September 19 session at 613.29 points.

The slump of blue chips were the main drag as many of these shares lost value, especially on September 19, because of the portfolio restructuring of exchange-trade funds (ETF).

Stocks removed or scaled down from ETF portfolios sold strongly, such as Development Investment Construction Co (DIG), Vietcombank (VCB) and Phu My Fertiliser (DPM), as well as Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and VinGroup (VIC).

The VN30, which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity, declined by 2.28 percent to end the week at 654.54 points.

Foreign investors also concluded the week as net sellers on the southern bourses and unloaded shares worth 549.5 billion VND (26 million USD). This is the fifth net selling week for this sector.

Active trading on hot stocks like oil and gas-related companies, seafood producers and securities companies helped cushion the market and boost liquidity.

Market volume on the Hochiminh stock market climbed by 16 percent compared with that of the previous week, averaging 196 million shares worth more than 3.88 trillion VND (nearly 184 million USD) per day.

Analysts at SHB Securities Company said that though most of the stocks in the oil and gas sectors had increased significantly in recent times and were facing profit-taking pressure, prospects for this group remained bright.

"After four declining sessions, prices of many stocks have fallen to attractive ranges that will likely spur demand. In the short term, the market will continue to be supported at the 605- to 610-point mark," they wrote in a report.

Analysts at FPT Securities Company predicted that the market would be differentiated in the future, and stocks with prospects of positive third-quarter business results would likely increase.

"Recent corrections will be an opportunity for investors to buy shares and await the results of third-quarter corporate earnings. Investors may pay attention to oil and gas and securities groups," the analysts said.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index fell by 0.67 percent to finish the week at 88.89 points. Liquidity remained high, with nearly 112 million shares worth 1.63 trillion VND (77.3 million USD) traded per session.

Because of ETFs' portfolio restructuring, foreign investors were also net sellers here, unloading 310 billion VND (14.7 million USD) worth of shares.-VNA