News of a tigher official cap on the deposit interest rates that can be paid by commercial banks, a figure which bears directly on the interest rates that banks charge on commercial loans, failed to revive investor spirits on May 28.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index declined by another 0.43 percent from last weeks's close to end the previous's session at 435.48 points, even as advancers managed to outnumber decliners by a margin of 155-96.

The value of trades is down 26 percent from last week's level, totalling 951 billion VND (45.3 million USD), while volume also decreased by 14 percent to 66.8 million shares.

Blue chips slumped, with 11 of the 30 leading shares tracked by the VN30 index posting losses, including recently-listed PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), down 3.6 percent; insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), down 2.9 percent; and Sacombank (STB), down 1.9 percent. The VN30 Index declined 0.16 percent to a close of 513.44 points.

The head of VNDirect Securities Co's investment consulting division, Ho Thi Huyen, said news of lower interest rates and fuel prices is good. But, she added, "on the stock market, nothing is certain, and any forecasts are only estimates because the situation changes very quickly and investor psychology can change in one or two sessions."

Market expectations tended to run ahead of actual economic performance, Huyen noted. "The stock market – the market based on expectations – has run 50km while the economy has run only 5-10km," she said.

On May 28, the HCM Stock Exchange announced that it willapply the market price order method (MP) starting July 2 in a bid to boost market liquidity. This method gives priority to trading volume despite transaction prices, increasing order matching speed.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange on May 28, the HNX-Index also lost 0.6 percent to close at 75.60 points. The value of trades reached only about 564 billion VND (27 million USD). Habubank (HBB) seized the spot as most-active share nationwide, with 4.3 million traded.

Foreign investors concluded on May 28 as net buyers on both exchanges, picking up shares worth a combined 21.7 billion VND (1 million USD).-VNA