Despite a significant capital inflow into the market on June 17, the VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange closed in the red.

The VN-Index slightly lost 0.02 percent to end at 572.25 points, dragged down by two market pillars of PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (GAS) and Masan Group (MSN).

GAS dropped 0.9 percent to end at 105,000 VND (5 USD) while MSN closed 2.5 percent lower at 97,000 VND (4.6 USD) per share as both suffered from net selling of foreign investors.

Although more than half of blue chips advanced with the VN30-Index, tracking the performance of the 30 top stocks by capitalisation and liquidity seen rising by 0.32 percent to 620.61 points, losses from GAS and MSN prevented the southern bourse's gauge from advancing.

Blue chips, which also posted losses on June 17, also included Vingroup (VIC), Hoa Sen Group (HSG), Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Eximbank (EIB).

However, with improved purchasing power, the trading volume rose by 24 percent over the previous trading session to reach nearly 108.7 million shares, worth 1.58 trillion VND (75.2 million USD).

According to Vietnam Investment Securities, if market liquidity continued to improve in the coming trading sessions, there could be a break-out for the VN-Index to exceed 580 points.

Stocks of securities sector witnessed a rising wave on June 17 owing to the inflow of speculative capitals.

HCM City Securities (HCM) added 5.01 percent to 35,600 VND (1.69 USD) per share, with more than 1.1 million shares changing hands, and Saigon Securities rose by 3.16 percent, with nearly 4 million shares traded among other gainers such as Agribank Securities (AGR) and BIDV Securities (BIDV).

Real estate stocks led the southern bourse by trading volumes. FLC Group (FLC) ranked first, with 11.46 million shares changing hands, followed by Tan Tao Group (ITA), with 9.58 million shares, and Hoang Quan Corporation (HQC), with 8.85 million shares traded.

Property and securities stocks were also the market's highlight on the northern bourse, which helped the benchmark indices rebound on June 17.

The HNX-Index ended 0.74 percent higher at 76.99 points while the HNXFF-Index, composed of stocks with a minimum free float rate of 5 percent, added 0.99 percent to 77.7 points.

Tracking the 30 largest stocks of the capital city's bourse, the HNX30-Index finished 1.29 percent higher at 154.91 points.

Trading volume and value were both 27 percent higher than the previous trading session, with 51.6 million shares changing hands, worth 525.8 billion VND (25 million USD).

Foreign investors continued to be net buyers but with net volume falling by 13.69 percent over the previous trading session to 1.7 million shares, worth 30.63 billion VND (1.45 million USD).

FPT Securities said that the review of exchange-traded fund's portfolios and the year's first half business results were factors that had an impact on the market trend.

In the short term, the benchmark indices might continue to face difficulties when approaching the resistance band of 580 points, but losses, if occurred, would not be significant, the company said.-VNA