The VN-Index fell by over 1 percent from the previous day's session on the HCM Stock Exchange to close at 401.03 points on Nov. 10.

The value of trades rose by 18.9 percent, however, totalling 512 billion VND (24 million USD) on a volume of 25.3 million shares.

The number of advancers was nearly five times the number of decliners on the HCM City exchange. Among the 15 leading shares by capitalisation, only Military Bank (MBB) and Sacombank (STB) posted gains.

"A string of bad news has clipped the market," said StoxPlus Financial Co analyst Le Huu Quan, noting that one-year interbank interest rates jumped suddenly to 36.58 percent on November 7, an increase of 16.18 percent from November 3.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index dropped by 1.2 percent to 63.82 points, with the majority of listed codes shedding value. The volume of trades climbed 14.5 percent to 28.4 million shares, while overall market value inched up slightly to 259 billion VND (12.2 million USD).

The State Bank of Vietnam threw an additional wet blanket on the stock market yesterday, saying that bank deposits were now the safest investment for those with idle money.

"If monthly inflation rises at a rate of less than 1 percent, deposits offer positive gains, while the securities market has witnessed low value, and the VN-Index will probably not reach 485 points as was earlier predicted," the bank said.

Yet, international ratings agency Standard and Poor's on Wednesday revised the risk assessment for Vietnam 's banking industry from group 9 to group 10 – the highest level of risk.

S&P also revised the country's overall economic risk score from 9 to 10./.