Vietnam’s benchmark VN Index closed down 0.54 per cent to 569.12 points on Wednesday, with most banks losing ground and the volumes dropped in a cautious sentiment.
Hanoi-based Vietcombank, Vietnam’s top lender by market value, led the decliners with a 1.67 per cent fall, while Eximbank lost 3.1 per cent and VietinBank ticked down 1.95 per cent.
Both Eximbank and VietinBank have been removed from the composition of the VN30 Index, which features the top 30 best performing companies, in the first review session of the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the bourse had announced on Tuesday.
Volume fell to 83 million shares, below the five-day average level of 95.5 million shares, after foreigners turned net sellers on Tuesday after their two buying sessions, Reuters data showed.
The index fell to its lowest since January 8. Gains in some other blue-chips cushioned the falls, including steelmaker Hoa Phat Group that advanced 0.94 per cent. The firm has announced its estimated 2014 net profit jumped 62 per cent from a year earlier to $150 million.