Hanoi (VNA)🌠 - Vietnamese shares were mixed on the two local exchanges on April 15, while investors tried to take profits from advancing stocks.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched up 0.1 percent to finish at 579.86 points, extending a two-day gain of 0.3 percent. The southern index rose 1.3 percent during the week. Meanwhile, the HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange fell slightly and remained almost flat at 80.26 points. The northern index ended slightly higher than the previous week. Property developers such as Vingroup JSC (VIC), Kinh Bac City Development Share Holding Corp (KBC) and Thu Duc Housing Development Corp (TDH) pulled markets down by retreating from their recent gains. VIC dropped 1 percent after rising 11 percent in the previous five sessions, KBC declined by 2.3 percent after a four-day jump of 5.6 percent, and TDH lost 2.1 percent after it surged 10 percent in the previous two days. The agricultural sector also declined strongly, led by Tay Ninh Rubber JSC (TRC) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai JSC (HAG). TRC was down 2 percent from a five-day gain of 12 percent, while HAG bounced back 2.8 percent from a surge on April 14. Additionally, insurance and brokerage companies turned to negative territory after making gains on April 14. Among insurance firms, BIDV Insurance Corp (BIC) decreased by 0.5 percent, and PVI Holdings (PVI) fell 0.8 percent. In the brokerage industry, HCM City Securities Corp (HCM) went down 1 percent, VNDirect Securities Corp (VND) dropped 0.8 percent and Bao Viet Securities Corp (BVS) declined by 1.5 percent. The energy sector also responded badly to lower oil prices as analysts predicted that the meeting between OPEC’s members, such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, and other large producers, including Russia, may not boost the prices as expected. On the opposite side, Vietcombank (VCB) and PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS) helped lift the markets following their shareholder meetings on the day. VCB rose 0.5 percent after the bank announced a pre-tax profit of 2.3 trillion VND in the first quarter of 2016, an increase of 61 percent over a year. GAS added 0.9 percent after the company announced it might buy back some shares this year, but it did not announce detailed plans. Other blue chips also increased, including dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), Vietinbank (CTG) and Truong Thanh Furniture Corp (TTF). Both markets traded more than 180.5 million shares worth 2.7 trillion VND (120.3 million USD), 6.5 percent higher than the trading value on April 14.-VNA