The nation's two stock exchanges opened down on Sept.21 on news late Sept.20 that the nation's inflation rate had heated up in September, with one-month increase in consumer prices in both Hanoi and HCM City of nearly 1 percent.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index closed down by nearly 1 percent to 453.32, although the value of trades rose by 16 percent to 1.7 trillion VND (87.2 million USD), on a volume of nearly 57.2 million shares.

Of the 10 leading shares by capitalisation, only Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Masan Group (MSN) saw gains on the day. Overall, losers outnumbered gainers on the HCM City market by 142-56.

Ocean Group (OGC) surprised for the second day as the most-active share, generating a record volume of over 14.3 million shares – about 26 percent of overall market volume. But the shares, after declining early in the session, soared to their ceiling price by the end of the session, closing at 37,600 VND (1.93 USD).

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange on Sept. 21, the HNX-Index slid 1.31 percent to end the session at 131.57 points. The volume of trades dropped 23 percent to about 40.4 million shares, worth just over 1 trillion VND (51.3 million USD).

Declines outnumbered advancers by five-to-one, while seven of the 10 leading shares by capitalisation declined.

PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) remained the most heavily-traded share on the northern bourse, with 5 million traded. PVX closed down 2 percent to 24,300 VND (1.25 USD) per share.

Foreign investors were net buyers by value on the HCM City market on Sept. 21 of 13.2 billion VND (676,900 USD) worth of shares, while they were net sellers in Hanoi of shares worth 1.65 billion VND (84,600 USD)./.