Accelerated sales on the HCM Stock Exchange depressed the VN-Index on Oct. 27 to a close of 450.01 points – a decline of 1.12 percent.

Tran Thanh Binh, head of the brokerage department at an HCM City-based securities firm, said that on Oct. 27's correction was due to profit-taking on penny stocks, some of
which had seen gains averaging about 10 percent over the last few days of trading.

The profit-taking began increasing at mid-session, causing 188 of 271 listed stocks to decline, including Khanh Hoa Power (KHP), which plunged by 6.14 percent, and Dong
Nai Painting (DSN) and Hoang Quan Real Estate Consulting Trading and Services (HQC), each down 5 percent.

A firm infusion of capital from foreign investors was still focusing on blue chips, Binh said, with foreign investors picking up 3.2 million shares on the HCM City market.

However, only Vietcombank (VCB), software giant FPT, and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF), among major shares, saw advances on the day.

The volume of trades fell 19.1 percent from Oct. 26's session to just 27.5 million shares, worth a combined 710.1 billion VND (36.4 million USD).

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index on Oct. 27 plunged by 2.07 percent to close at 112.53 points. The value of trades on the northern bourse fell back to just
488 billion VND (25 million USD), on a meagre volume of only 24.2 million shares.

With decliners outnumbering advancers by 216-76, many shares which had hit ceiling prices in the previous two sessions dropped sharply, including Vimeco (VMC), down about 7 percent; Dien Hong Printing (DHI) and Song Da Yali Cement (SDY), each down around 6.9 percent; and Vincom Securities Co (VIX), down 6.8 percent.

Hoa Binh Securities Co deputy director Nguyen Huy Duong said that a rally based on penny stocks, such as markets had seen over the last couple of days, would be
hard-pressed to create a stable uptrend.

Meanwhile, economic factors like inflation and interest rates were doing little to encourage trading and break the markets out of their doldrums, Duong said./.