Blue chips on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange did a turnaround, helping to ease the decline of the VN-Index which closed at 601.78 points, falling just 0.06 percent.

Compared to August 11 session, trading was sluggish, with 83 million shares worth 1.46 trillion VND (68.8 million USD) changing hands.

The performance of the 30 largest stocks in the exchange drove the VN30 Index up 0.27 percent, reaching 639.96 points. Ten of the shares managed to rise, notably of property developer Vingroup (VIC), PetroVietnam Drilling Services (PVD) and Da Nang Rubber (DRC) which added 2 to 3.3 percent.

Apart from the shares tracked by the VN30, newly listed Mobile World (MWG) jumped 3.5 percent, and seafood processor Minh Phu (MPC) hit its ceiling price.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the declining momentum of indexes also slowed down. The HNX-Index shed 0.16 percent to 80.47 points, while the HNX30 fell 0.06 percent to 161.48 points.

Trading values rose dramatically to more than 1.1 trillion VND (51.8 million USD) on a volume of 66.7 million shares.

The surge in trading was due to transactions on construction company Vicostone (VCS), which saw over 29 million shares changing hands. The shares were exchanged through negotiations at 23,100 VND (1.1 USD), higher than its closing price of 19,500 VND (0.9 USD).

Transactions on August 12 could be related to the company's plan earlier this month to merge with rival Phuong Hoang Xanh A&A Company.

Foreign investors continued to be net sellers by 142.3 billion VND (6.7 million USD).

VIC was the most heavily sold with nearly 846,500 shares worth 65.74 billion VND (3.1 million USD) in net value, followed by private equity group Masan (MSN), property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG), Kinh Do Confectionery (KDC) and PVD.-VNA