Profit hunters cut into the value of shares at mid-session on Feb. 10 on the HCM Stock Exchange, sending the VN-Index to a close of 520.23 points, a decline of 0.45 percent from the previous day's level.

About 130 stocks and fund certificates lost ground, with wood products producer Duc Long Gia Lai Group (DLG) and fund certificate Vietnam Fund Management/Vietnam Active Fund (VFMVFA) each declining by 5 percent to 26,600 VND and 7,600 VND, respectively.

Lu Gia Mechanical Electric Co (LGC) also lost 4.92 percent of its value to close at 30,900 VND per share.

The performance of blue chips was particularly discouraging to the VN-Index, with stocks having a heavy influence on the Index seeing significant losses. Insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) dropped by 2.1 percent while conglomerate Masan Group (MSN) declined by 1.7 percent.

Banking stocks decline by 0.8 percent overall after soaring for the previous two sessions.
Foreign investors turned net sellers on the HCM City market on Feb. 10, unloading a net of 300,000 shares worth a combined 12.2 billion VND (580,952 USD).

Their sell-off of BVH shares accounted for fully 44 percent of the share's total volume during the session.

Tan Tao Industrial Park (ITA) was the most-active stock on the HCM City market on the day, with 4.6 million traded. ITA closed up 4.27 percent, driven by a 2010 profit reported at 859 billion VND (41 million USD), double 2009's figure.

A number of penny stocks managed gains. Vietnam-Italy Steel (VIS) rose 4.9 percent, while Imexpharm Pharmaceutical (IMP), Binh Duong Trade and Development (TDC) and Petroleum Equipment Assembly and Metal Structure (PXS) each closed up by over 4.75 percent.

Overall, trading volume remained low in HCM City at 31.6 million shares, worth only 796.4 billion VND (38 million USD).

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also closed down by 0.66 percent to 107.67 points. Volume was low at 17.5 million shares, worth a combined 340.5 billion VND (16.2 million USD). VNDirect Securities (VND) was again the most-active share on the northern market, with 2.3 million traded./.