VIETNAM, March 17 - HÀ NỘI — Benchmark indices were mixed on Friday with the VN-Index falling for a second day in a row, but both posted a weekly loss.

On the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index declined by 2.26 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 1,045.14 points. It lost 14.79 points on Thursday after soaring more than 22 per cent on Wednesday.

The breadth of the southern market was neutral, while liquidity improved over the previous session. Nearly VNĐ10.3 trillion (US$436.2 million) was injected into the southern bourse, equivalent to a trading volume of more than 564.9 million shares.

The benchmark pared losses as more large-cap stocks performed well. The VN30-Index rose 0.72 points, or 0.07 per cent, to close the week at 1,047.71 points. Sixteen of the 30 biggest stocks in market capitalisation on HoSE advanced, while 11 stocks went down and three were unchanged.

Banking and real estate industries continued to lead the main trend. Statistics showed that Viecombank (VCB) posted the greatest loss, down 2.2 per cent in market cap. It was followed by Vinhomes (VHM) with a decrease of 2.58 per cent.

Members of the manufacturing sector also contributed to the bearish side. Vinamilk (VHM) slid 2.49 per cent, Hòa Phát Group (HPG) was down 2.16 per cent, Phú Nhuận Jewelry JSC (PNJ) lost 1.86 per cent, and Masan Group (MSN) was down 0.36 per cent.

Limiting the losses, some pillar stocks witnessed strong performances. Specifically, Vietjet Aviation JSC (VJC) was the biggest gainer, up 6.76 per cent. The low-cost airline's shares soared after it announced on Thursday the first-ever direct flights between Việt Nam and Australia's Queensland state in June.

VPBank (VPB), HDBank (HDB), Vincom Retail (VRE), and Bảo Việt Holdings (BVH) all posted gains of at least 1 per cent.

Meanwhile, on the northern exchange, the HNX-Index ended the week higher. It rose by 0.28 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 204.47 points.

During the trading session, more than 49.7 million shares were traded on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), worth VNĐ766.73 billion.

While the domestic stock market experienced volatility in recent sessions, leading to withdrawals of local investors, large foreign capital flows continued to be poured into the two main exchanges.

On Friday, foreign investors net bought a large amount of VNĐ624.65 billion on HoSE and VNĐ104.93 billion on HXN. — VNS