Shares opened low on the HCM exchange on the morning of March 27 but gradually improved with the benchmark VN–Index gaining 0.37 percent to close the day at 491.26 points.

Trading was sluggish, however, with nearly 39 million shares worth 757 billion VND (36 million USD) changing hands, down 17 percent in volume and 9 percent in value compared to the previous session.

Decliners edged advancers by 107 – 101 while the other 101 code closed flat.

Trading of shares of transport firm Gemadept (GMD) was the bright spot in the session, hitting its ceiling price for a third straight day, closing at 39,400 VND a share.

With over half of the shares in the VN30 closing flat, the VN30 was down 0.43 per cent two 554.83 points.

Tan Tao Investment-Industry (ITA) was again the most active code with 2.7 million shares changing hands, sliding 2.78 percent to 7,000 VND a share.

Meanwhile, the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange lost 0.38 percent to finish at 60.62 points on a total trading value of 247.2 billion VND (11.8 million USD).

Sai Gon – Hanoi Bank (SHB) is leading the northern market trades with over 6.9 million shares exchanged, closing flat at 6,700 VND a share.

Foreign investors remained net buyers on both exchanges, responsible for a combined net buy of 51.6 billion VND (2.5 million USD) worth of shares.-VNA