Shares yesterday continued last week's declines on both of the nation's stock exchange on June 20, although cash flows continued stronger into the HCM City bourse.

"The greatest contributing factor to the session was information about the June inflation rate," said Dang Anh, an analyst for a Ha Noi-based securities company.

The consumer price index rose by 0.69 in HCM City in June, compared to the prior month, and 1.21 percent in Hanoi. The pace was lower than in May but remained alarmingly high.

While rising consumer prices helped drive up shares of food, beverage and household goods producers, the tourism industry, representing discretionary consumer spending, saw shares fell by an average of 4.6 percent, Anh noted.

On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index lost 1.6 percent overall to close at 431.63 points. The value of trades stood at 753.9 billion VND (35.7 million USD), 86.8 percent of the value of the previoues session on June 17, on a volume of 43.8 million shares.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by three-to-one, while around 70 codes bottomed out.

The 10 leading shares by capitalisation also had a poor day, with only food producer Masan Group (MSN) making gains and closing up 1.6 percent, while Sacombank (STB) closed unchanged. Meanwhile, shares of real estate developer Vincom (VIC) hit their floor price, and insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) both fell by over 3 percent.

Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) was the most-active share, with nearly 3.6 million traded.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also dipped by 1.7 percent to 75.33 points. The value of the day's trades reached just 417.2 billion VND (20.3 million USD), 32.7 percent below June 17's level, while volume also slumped by 30.5 percent to just 36.5 million shares.

Kim Long Securities Co (KLS) was the most-active share nationwide, with just over 5 million exchanged.

Foreign investors were buyers overall on the northern bourse of a net of 5.6 billion VND (271,800 USD) worth of shares, while they were net sellers in HCM City of over 26 billion VND (1.27 million USD) in shares./.