Stocks widened their losses on June 20 afternoon, weighed down by falling global markets.

Global stock markets plunged steeply following an announcement by the US Federal Reserve on June 19 that it would stop its quantitative easing programme next year.

“Although the Vietnamese stock market lacks correlation with rest of the world, the Fell’s policy seemed to have worldwide impacts,” analysts of FPT Securities Co commented on their website.

On the Ho Chi Minh City exchange, the VN-Index for the second time retreated below the psychological threshold of 500 points, down 0.77 percent from the previous session at 499.51 points.

However, the market volume rose 15 percent from the previous session to 49.5 million shares and fund certificates worth 812.6 billion VND (696.5 million USD).

Blue chips led the downturn when 23 of the 30 largest shares on the southern exchange declined while only three advanced, pushing the VN30 down 0.31 percent at 555.01 points.

Steel sheet maker Hoa Sen (HSG) was among few shares bucking the trend when posting a gain of 3.8 percent to finish at 43,500 VND (2.07 USD).

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also gave up 0.75 percent to finish the day at 64.53 points with a low trading value of 288.5 billion VND (13.7 million USD).

Property developer FLC Group (FLC) was again the most active code on the northern bourse with nearly 4 million shares changing hands, slumping over 4 percent at 7,100 VND each.

The foreign sector continued to unload shares on the HCM City market, responsible for a net sell of 91.45 billion VND (4.4 million USD) worth of shares.

They were still net buyers on the Hanoi exchange, however, picking up shares worth 32 billion VND (1.5 million USD).-VNA