Shares fell on December 21 with the VN-Index losing 0.73 percent to close at 396.78 points on the HCM Stock Exchange.

Most listed shares closed the session unchanged, while 71 declined and 84 managed to gain.

Trading continued to reach over 1 trillion VND (47.6 million USD), this time increasing 18 percent over December 20's value, totalling nearly 1.34 trillion VND (63.8 million USD) on a volume of 76.8 million shares.

Blue chips were mixed on the day, with 15 out of the 30 largest stocks tracked by the VN30 falling, while 10 rose.

Stocks hit both their increase and decrease limits: Vietinbank (CTG) was up to 19,400 VND (0.9 USD) and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) fell to 7,900 VND (0.37 USD). The index retreated 0.66 percent overall, finishing at 465.24 points.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index slid 0.5 percent to close at 54.05 points.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 101-82, while the prices of two-thirds of Hanoi 's stocks remained static.

The value of trades dropped 27 percent over the previous session to just 308.6 billion VND (14.6 million USD) as trading volume fetched 48.9 million shares.

The HNX30, representing the northern exchange's leading shares in capitalisation and liquidity, dropped 0.9 percent to 100.28 points. While domestic investors sold off shares to take profits, foreign players were net buyers.-VNA