Accelerated profit-taking dragged down shares on the HCM Stock Exchange for a second day on Dec. 29, with the VN-Index closing down 1.65 percent to 484.45 points.

The heavy sell-off, however, lifted trading volume to over 70.6 million shares, worth a combined 2.6 trillion VND (140.5 million USD). Sacombank (STB) accounted for 5.5 percent of the total volume, with 2.29 million STB shares changing hands.

The Hanoi Stock Exchange also saw a second day in decline, with the HNX-Index dropping by over a percent to 160.11 points. The value of trades reached 754.5 billion VND (40.8 million USD) on a volume of 22.8 million shares. Meanwhile, Kim Long Securities Co (KLS) claimed the spot as the most-active share on the northern bourse, on a volume of 4.15 million.

A market adjustment had been expected this week, commented Adrian Cundy of VinaSecurities, but the market still looked good for an uptrend. The market might decline for one or two more days but was then likely to increase to the 520-level, based on technical analysis, he said, suggesting that financial and banking shares, real estate, raw materials and seafood offered the best prospects.

Foreign investors continued as net buyers in HCM City on Dec. 29, picking up a net of 6.4 million shares, while they were net sellers in Hanoi market, unloading a net of just 71,700 shares./.