National stocks reversed a two-day rally to sink into the red during on Dec. 20's session, following Vietnam Electricity's announcement that electricity rates will rise.

VietCapital Securities analysts were convinced the adjusted rate will make next month's inflation rise by 0.12 percent, lower than this month's rate for Hanoi released on Dec. 20, which climbed 0.61 percent against November.

The annual inflation rate in the capital jumped nearly 18 percent compared to last year and doubled the rate of last year compared to 2009.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index dropped 0.5 percent to 365.67 points and less than one-fifth of listed stocks gained value.

Selling pressure made the value and volume of trades rise by around 22 percent over Dec. 19's level, totalling 746.8 billion VND (35.2 million USD) and nearly 46.5 million shares.

Most blue chips lost ground, while only food processor Masan (MSN), Sacombank (STB), property developer Vincom (VIC) and Vinamilk (VNM) edged up between 0.5-1.1 percent.

With more than 1.4 million share changing hands, STB was also the most active code in the southern bourse, while the HNX-Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange retreated 1.4 percent, closing the day's trades at 59.33 points.

Losers overwhelmed gainers by 186-72, but trading value inched up 5.5 percent to 242.8 billion VND (11.5 million USD) on a volume of 28.5 million shares.

VNDirect Securities Co (VND) again became the most heavily traded stock with 3 million shares exchanged.

Foreign investors concluded the day as buyers, however, with the net value in HCM City plunging 98 percent over previous session. They picked a combined margin of 13.5 billion VND (636,800 USD) on both bourses./.