Shares fell on the HCM Stock Exchange after rallying for 10 days to its 10-year high as the market was hit by strong investor selling.

A woman passes by stock electronic trading boards at Tan Viet Securities Company in Hanoi

The benchmark VN Index dropped 0.24 percent to end on November 17 at 890.69 points. It had made a 10-day rally of total 7.1 percent.

The southern market index advanced total 2.6 percent on a weekly basis and 6.4 percent since the start of November.

More than 188.5 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth 5.36 trillion VND (238.3 million USD).

The trading figures posted a decline of 8.7 percent in volume and 27 percent in value compared to November 16.

Vietnam’s major stock market was dominated by declining stocks, which outnumbered gaining ones by 168 to 111.

Large-cap stocks were hit by investors’ profit-taking after the benchmark VN Index had rallied for 10 consecutive sessions.

Twenty-four of the 30 largest companies by market capitalisation in the VN30 Index saw share prices drop while only four advanced, causing the large-cap index to fall nearly 0.3 percent to 887.41 points.

Among decliners were Binh Minh Plastic (BMP), DHG Pharmaceutical Co (DHG), Sacombank (STB), logistics firm Gemadept (GMD) and food producer Kido (KDC).

BMP lost 2.7 percent to erase its entire growth made in the previous two days. It had grown total 23 percent since the end of October. GMD dropped 2 percent following its three-day increase of 8.6 percent. Gemadept shares had gained more than 10.2 percent in total so far this month.

The HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange struggled in the entire session to finish at 108.31 points, slightly unchanged from the ending level of 108.29 points on November 16.

November 17’s gain also extended the northern market index’s gain for an eighth session with total growth of 3.3 percent.

More than 58.9 million shares were traded on Hanoi’s market, worth nearly 750 billion VND. -VNA