Vietnam’s benchmark VN Index closed down 0.22 per cent on Monday, with PetroVietNam Gas, Vietnam’s biggest listed firm by market value, leading the losses on falling oil prices.
GAS shares retreated 2.13 per cent, while US crude and Brent futures dropped to fresh 5-1/2-year lows on Monday as worries about a surplus of global supplies amid weak demand continued to drag on oil markets.
Petrovietnam Drilling & Well Services Corp, another subsidiary of state oil and gas group PetroVietnam, tumbled 5.43 per cent, erasing gains in other blue chips, including top insurer Baoviet Holdings, which climbed 4.06 per cent.
Selling strengthened as the index reached near its resistance level of 550 points, while volume stood at 96 million shares, slightly below the five-day average of 103 million which had weakened around the New Year holidays.