Stocks fail to sustain 2-month high

Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index fell 0.09% to 1,272.87 points Thursday, after hitting a two-month peak in the previous session.

The index closed 1.2 points lower after gaining 13.68 points in the previous session.

Trading on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange decreased dropped 27% to VND18.8 trillion (US$739 million).

SSB of SeABank dropped 2%, followed by BVH of insurance company Bao Viet Holdings with a 1.9% decline.

MWG of electronics retail chain Mobile World dropped 1.1% and VRE of retail real estate arm Vincom Retail closed 0.9% lower.

Eleven blue chips gained, led by six banks.

VIB of Vietnam International Commercial Bank posted the largest increase at 2.9%, followed by STB of Ho Chi Minh City-based lender Sacombank, up 2.3%.

Foreign investors were net sellers to the tune of VND365 billion.

They mainly net sold VCB of state-owned lender Vietcombank and FPT of IT giant FPT Corporation.

The HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, rose 0.04%, while the UPCoM-Index for the Unlisted Public Companies Market dropped 0.19%.

Asia shares eased in holiday-thinned trade on Thursday, paring some of their gains from earlier in the week, while the dollar rose alongside U.S. Treasury yields.

As the year-end approaches, trading volumes have begun thinning out and the main focus for investors remains that of the Federal Reserve’s rate outlook. Markets in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand were closed for a holiday on Thursday.