Shares declined in Ho Chi Minh City while continuing to close ahead in Hanoi on Dec. 13.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index reached 66.22 points, a 0.4 percent increase over the previous session.

The HNX30, tracking the northern bourse's top 30 shares by capitalisation and liquidity, was up 0.36 percent to 125.21 points.

Trading, however, decreased some 22 percent to 228.86 billion VND (10.8 million USD) and 26 million shares.

Meanwhile, foreign investors were net buyers in Hanoi by a margin of 11.6 billion VND (547,160 USD), while on the southern bourse, they ended the day as net sellers by over 14.6 billion VND (688,670 USD).

Also, the benchmark VN-Index slid 0.17 percent to 506.06 points. The total value of trades reached only 36 percent of the previous day's figure, or 882.47 billion VND (41.6 million USD) on a volume of nearly 67.7 million shares.

Blue chips were mixed, with 11 stocks falling and the same number of shares adding value. The VN30, composed of these large-cap stocks, lost 0.16 percent to 566.47 points.

Next week, FTSE Vietnam ETF and Market Vectors Vietnam ETF will offload shares to restructure their portfolios. Two blue chips, Vietcombank (VCB) and property giant Vingroup (VIC), are expected to be sold, therefore the market as a whole might be adversely affected.

Additionally, Market Vectors Vietnam ETF will have to offload some 200 billion VND (9.4 million USD) in shares to reduce their percentage of shares from 72.6 percent to 70 percent.

FPT Securities Company analysts said short-term risks were not high, as the VN-Index managed to retain the 505 point level during Dec. 13’s session.

With the information surrounding the exchange-traded funds' activities, the company predicted the stock market would move in a sideways direction.-VNA