Shares halted their two-day rally after retreating in Hanoi and closing unchanged in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec. 6.

While trading value grew sharply (54 percent) on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange to 679 billion VND (32.3 million USD), shares were sluggishly traded in the capital.

This was a signal of profit-taking, according to FPT Securities Co analysts.

Dec. 6's transactions were tentative due to low investor confidence, they said. While large-cap stocks were active, smaller speculative stocks began to fall back, reflecting profit-taking.

"Trading was therefore put in a state of tension," a FPT Securities analyst added, before saying that the day's session was a correction after several gains.

The report went on to say that despite the positives, "In the short term the general trend of the market is still negative."

The benchmark VN-Index kept on 385.69 points with 100 gainers and 86 losers. Trading volume, however, decreased 10.4 per cent compared to previous day's level.

Blue chips were mixed, with seven stocks tracked by the VN30 advancing and ten declining. The index still managed to add 0.02 percent to reach 451.72 points.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index slid 0.6 percent, standing at just 51.78 points.
Trading was sluggish, with around 25.17 million shares worth only 155 billion VND (7.3 million USD) changing hands.

The HNX30, composed of the northern exchange's best stocks, finished the day at 94.48 points, 0.73 percent off.

Foreign investors became net sellers on both bourses after five days of being buyers, unloading a margin of 6 billion VND (285,700 USD). However, they still purchased some blue chips such as Vietcombank (VCB), Military Bank (MBB), Pha Lai Thermal Power Co (PPC), food processor Masan (MSN) and construction firm Sudico (SJS).-VNA