The VN-Index closed largely unchanged at 459.32 points following Monday's trades, while market volume on the HCM Stock Exchange dropped to its lowest level since the beginning of the year.

Foreign investors continued to be net buyers, but of a net of just 3.58 billion VND (184,000 USD) worth of shares, down steeply from Friday's 85 billion VND (4.4 million USD).

Overall market volume and value decreased by around 27 percent from Friday's levels to just 22 million shares, worth 560.2 billion VND (32.7 million USD).

Decliners narrowly outnumbered advancers by 99-84.

A few blue chips rose slightly, including Vietinbank (CTG), up 0.53 percent; developers Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG), up 0.64 percent, and Hoa Phat Group (HPG), up 0.75 percent; Phu My Fertilisers (DPM), up 1.51 percent; and Masan Group (MSN), up 0.92 percent.

Insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) closed off 0.83 percent, while software giant FPT lost 1.37 percent of its value.

Sacombank (STB) was the only stock which saw more than a million shares changing hands but closed down 0.6 percent to 16,700 VND (0.86 USD).

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index declined by 0.35 percent to close at 121.26 points. The volume of trades dropped by over 23 percent from Friday's level to around 18.5 million shares worth nearly 434.9 billion VND (22.3 million USD).

Losers outnumbered gainers on the northern bourse by a more substantial margin of 189-80.

PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) continued to be the most-active share nationwide, with 2.25 million changing hands. PVX closed off 0.89 percent to 22,200 VND (1.15 USD) per share.

Shares of Click&Phone Securities Co (SBS) saw their first day of trading on October 11, closing down 1.5 percent from their opening price to 13,300 VND (0.70 USD) per share.

In a recent survey by the financial information website cafef.vn, 41 percent of respondents said they still had over half of their assets invested in the securities market, but 22 percent said they had withdrawn investment from the stock market.

Analysts at Wall Street Securities Co said movements in other markets, including gold and foreign currency, were making these more attractive investment opportunities.

Le Dat Chi, head of HCM City Economics University 's corporate finance faculty, agreed, saying the majority of Vietnamese investors were individuals who preferred speculative investment and who tended to opt out of the market when it remained stagnant for too long a period.

"High deposit interest rates offered by banks were also not encouraging investors to invest in the stock market," Chi said.

Foreign investors, meanwhile, increased their buys on the Hanoi market to a net of almost 11 billion VND (564,000 USD)./.