Vietnamese shares were mixed on the two local exchanges yesterday, while investors tried to take profits from advancing stocks.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched up 0.1 per cent to finish at 579.86 points, extending a two-day gain of 0.3 per cent. The southern index rose 1.3 per cent during the week.

Meanwhile, the HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange fell slightly and remained almost flat at 80.26 points. The northern index ended slightly higher than the previous week.

Property developers such as Vingroup JSC (VIC), Kinh Bac City Development Share Holding Corp (KBC) and Thu Duc Housing Development Corp (TDH) pulled markets down by retreating from their recent gains.

VIC dropped 1 per cent after rising 11 per cent in the previous five sessions, KBC declined by 2.3 per cent after a four-day jump of 5.6 per cent, and TDH lost 2.1 per cent after it surged 10 per cent in the previous two days.

The agricultural sector also declined strongly, led by Tay Ninh Rubber JSC (TRC) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai JSC (HAG).

TRC was down 2 per cent from a five-day gain of 12 per cent, while HAG bounced back 2.8 per cent from a surge on Thursday.

Additionally, insurance and brokerage companies turned to negative territory after making gains on Thursday.

Among insurance firms, BIDV Insurance Corp (BIC) decreased by 0.5 per cent, and PVI Holdings (PVI) fell 0.8 per cent.

In the brokerage industry, HCM City Securities Corp (HCM) went down 1 per cent, VNDirect Securities Corp (VND) dropped 0.8 per cent and BảoViệt Securities Corp (BVS) declined by 1.5 per cent.

The energy sector also responded badly to lower oil prices as analysts predicted that the meeting between OPEC’s members, such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, and other large producers, including Russia, may not boost the prices as expected.

On the opposite side, Vietcombank (VCB) and PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS) helped lift the markets following their shareholder meetings yesterday.

VCB rose 0.5 per cent after the bank announced a pre-tax profit of VND2.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2016, an increase of 61 per cent over a year.

GAS added 0.9 per cent after the company announced it might buy back some shares this year, but it did not announce detailed plans.

Other blue chips also increased, including dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID), Vietinbank (CTG) and Truong Thanh Furniture Corp (TTF).

Both local markets traded more than 180.5 million shares worth VND2.7 trillion (US$120.3 million), 6.5 per cent higher than Thursday’s trading value.

VNS