On the week’s first trading day on August 5, shares failed to hold onto the gains made during the previous session.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the benchmark VN-Index lost 0.2 percent to sit at 493.66 points, as those falling in price outnumbered those making a profit by 102-91.

The value of trading, however, jumped by 50 percent over the previous session to reach 735.14 billion VND (34.6 million USD), on a total volume of 29.6 million shares traded.

Meanwhile, the VN30 which tracks the performance of HCM City 's 30 leading shares pulled itself up by 0.1 percent to end at 546.18 points.

Although the amount of stocks rising almost doubled the number of shares slipping back, a growth of 3 percent for software developer FPT (FPT) and a rise of 5.6 percent by commercial baker Kinh Do (KDC) helped the index buck the trend.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index finished the session at 61.89 points, a 0.5 percent lower than August 2’s close.

As more than 13.3 million shares changed hands, the trading value climbed by a remarkable 48.5 percent to total 119.7 billion VND (5.6 million USD).

The HNX30, representing the bourse's top 30 stocks in terms of capitalisation and liquidity, also slid back by 0.3 percent to 114.98 points.

Although the Vietnamese stock market was praised as being the second fastest growing in Asia , according to Reuters, it has been sluggish since June.

Investors have been unsure about selling their shares to cut losses or holding on to shares and waiting for opportunities that could arise, as suggested by analysts.

While many have alleged that the VN-Index could reach almost 650 points by the years end, analysts from the website vietstock.vn have said that the chance of this was low, as the "short-term economic basis of the stock market has not improved".

"It is more likely that the market will continue to follow a downward spiral," they said.-VNA