Shares tumbled on April 19 trades on both of the nation's stock exchanges as uncertainties grew over whether the market could maintain sustainable growth.

"The market has yet to develop substantially," said independent analyst Ho Ba Tinh in an interview with the newspaper Dau tu Chung khoan (Securities Investment).

Recent stock market movements were quite similar to what occurred in mid-2009, when the market had just passed through the financial crisis and rallied from a severe low point, Tinh said. As the economy had stabilised, the market had rebounded.

"However, current economic factors still suggest high risk, including high levels of bad debt at banks and rising corporate bankruptcies," he said.

On the HCM Stock Exchange on April 19, the VN-Index retreated by 1 percent to close at 467.08 points. The value of trades reached 2.3 trillion VND (109.5 million U SD ), a decline of 8 percent from the previous day's level, while volume totalled 144.5 million shares.

Among blue chips, only insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Sacombank (STB) and food processor Masan Group (MSN) posted gains. Real estate shares bottomed out, including shares of developers Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG), Quoc Cuong Gia Lai (QCG), and Sudico (SJS) and investment group Tan Tao (ITA). Losses among the leading shares by capitalisation and liquidity tracked by the VN30 Index drove the index down by nearly 1.5 percent to 533.68 points.

Notably, some penny stocks saw surging trading volumes of 3.3-6.3 million shares, with steelmaker Huu Lien Asia (HLA) and miner Nari Hamico Minerals Co (KSS) hitting their ceiling prices and Vietnam Mechanisation Electrification and Construction Co (MCG) adding 1.6 percent on the day.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index declined by 2.3 percent to conclude on April 19's session at 77.50 points. Around 100.4 million shares changed hands, worth a total of about 1 trillion VND (7.6 million USD) 21.3-per-cent loss compared to Wednesday's level.

Decliners overwhelmed advancers on the northern bourse by 212-81. Habubank (HBB) was the most-active share in Hanoi with some 9.7 million exchanged.-VNA