The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange finished down 0.05 per cent to end Thursday at 1,012.30 points.

The benchmark index fell 0.55 per cent on Wednesday.

More than 209.4 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND4.5 trillion (US$192.4 million).

The Vietnamese stock market continued to correct as large-cap stocks underperformed on increased profit-taking pressure. Pillar stocks had a mixed day.

Losers included Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID) (-0.9 per cent), Mobile World Group (MWG) (-2.6 per cent), VPBank (VPB) (-2.3 per cent), Vietinbank (CTG) (-1.1 per cent), Military Bank (MBB) (-1.3 per cent), Vinhomes (VHM) (-0.7 per cent), Techcombank (TCB) (-0.2 per cent) and Vietjet (VJC) (-0.1 per cent).

On the opposite side, Vietcombank (VCB) (+0.4 per cent), Novaland (NVL) (+2.3 per cent), Masan Group (MSN) (+1.2 per cent), Vinamilk (VNM) (+0.3 per cent), Vincom Retail (VRE) (+0.9 per cent), Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX) (+0.8 per cent) and Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) (+ 0.7 per cent) all rose to support the market.

Energy and petroleum stocks boosted the southern market following a strong rebound of oil prices.

Global oil prices rose after industry data showed a sudden drop in US crude inventories. Brent crude futures rose 0.74 per cent to $62.83 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 0.77 per cent to $57.56 per barrel.

PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) rose 1.4 per cent, while PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) edged up 0.3 per cent.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation and liquidity, lost 0.45 per cent to close at 928.44 points.

In the VN30 basket, 17 of the 30 largest stocks dropped off while 11 increased.

On a sector basis, securities, information and technology, banking, retail, rubber production, seafood processing, construction materials and construction were among the worst-performing industries.

Meanwhile, gainers included food and beverage, wholesale, agriculture, logistics, healthcare, insurance, property developers and petroleum firms.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 0.89 per cent to close Thursday at 106.24 points.

The northern market index rose 0.41 per cent over the previous two days.

More than 25.5 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND331.3 billion.

On the HNX, pillars like Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) (-2 per cent), Vicostone JSC (VCS) (-2.3 per cent), Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) (-1.5 per cent) decreased, causing the HNX-Index to adjust strongly during Thursday's session.

According to BIDV Securities Co, unclear signals from US-China trade negotiations this week would add to cautious trading. Investors should carefully follow market movements and focus on fundamental stocks.