Caution took the place of the excitement a day earlier to embrace the local stock market on May 8 as indications slumped on both bourses.

The benchmark VN-Index on the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE) dropped 1.81 points to 1,060.45 points while the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) eased 1.22 points to settle at 125.33 points.

The total transaction value stood at more than 5.91 trillion VND (259.15 million USD), compared to 253 million USD on May 7.

Meanwhile, UpCoM-Index inched up 0.1 points to 56.82 points.

Among stocks in the VN30, which measures the performance of 30 stocks with the highest market capitalisation and liquidity on the HOSE, BID (Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam – BIDV), MSN (ManSan Group), and SAB (brewer SABECO) continued upward trend of the previous day. VNM (Vinamilk), VIC (VinGroup), GAS (PetroVietnam), VCB (Vietcombank), CTG (Techcombank) closed below the reference prices.

Insurance companies and equipment, machinery producers were among the best-performing stocks which picked up 3.77 percent and 4.79 percent, respectively while banking, mineral mining, securities and retailing shares edged down.-VNA