Share prices continued to decline at the Hochiminh Stock Exchange but gained slightly at the Hanoi Stock Exchange on November 27.

The losses at the HCM City bourse came in spite of the denial by the State Securities Commission (SSC) of its alleged plan to inspect transactions of stocks that have recently seen sudden high liquidity. The apparent rumour sparked a VN-Index loss of nearly 10 points on November 26. It closed at its lowest level in the past five months.

SSC Chairman Vu Bang denied the rumour, telling reporters that the information was absolutely erroneous and the commission's inspections were regular and routine as required by law. Bang warned investors of unexpected losses resulting from unfounded rumours.

At HCM City on November 27, the VN-Index continued to slide by another 0.55 percent to end at 572.89 points, driven by blue chips. The market condition was positive with 118 codes rising, 66 declining and 121 going flat.

Heavyweight blue chips such as PV Gas, Masan Group and Vinamilk (VNM), as well as PetroVietnam Drilling and Wells Service, all lost value.

The VN30, which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity, dropped by 0.15 point to end at 615.57 points.

Liquidity decreased as the market volume fell by 30 percent from the previous session, totalling nearly 118 million shares, while trading value fell by 40 percent to reach 1.9 trillion VND (90.48 million USD). FLC Group remained the most active stock with 18 million shares traded and climbed by 3.5 percent to end at 12,000 VND per share.

In contrast, the HNX-Index at the Hanoi Stock Exchange gained by 0.52 percent to finish at 88 points in spite of negative performance in the morning. The market was positive with 115 stocks leaping, only 69 tumbling and 178 closing flat.

According to analysts, this rally was unexpected given the bourse's performance in the morning. It was likely that investors began buying at bargain prices when the index fell to a very low level.

"Investors fear that if they act late, they will miss the chance of owning good shares at attractive prices. Economic performances and corporate earnings are expected to improve this year," FPT Securities Company analysts said in a report.

However, liquidity remained modest with just 60 million shares worth 822 billion VND (39.14 million USD) traded by the end of the session, a 20-percent decline in volume and 25-percent fall from November 26. KLF Joint Venture Global Investment Joint Stock Company remained the most active code with 12.5 million shares traded and surged by 6.2 percent to end at 13,800 VND per share.

Foreign investors still concluded as net sellers on November 27 on both exchanges, unloading shares worth 205 billion VND (9.76 million USD).-VNA