Shares opened in the red for their first session of the week on Sept. 26, with the VN-Index losing 1.3 percent from last week's close to end the day at 434.43 points.

Volume on the HCM Stock Exchange was sluggish, with only 35.3 million shares exchanged, and the value of trades dropped 10.2 percent to just 642.6 billion VND (31 million USD). Decliners outnumbered advancers by 144-81.

None of the 10 leading shares by capitalisation posted gains. Only Sacombank (STB) and real estate developer Vincom (VIC) managed to close unchanged.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index retreated by nearly 1.6 percent to conclude the session at 73.40 points, with losers far outnumbering gainers. The value of trades only reached 392.5 billion VND (19 million USD) on a volume of 35.4 million shares, a decline of 6 percent in value and 3.5 percent in volume.

Kim Long Securities Co (KLS) continued as the most-active code nationwide, with 2.9 million shares changing hands.

Foreign investors were net sellers on both bourses for a fifth consecutive session, picking a combined net of 116 billion VND (5.6 million USD) worth of shares./.