Shares continued to decline Aug. 24 on both national stock exchanges even as another round of gold fever began cooling down on the domestic market.

Domestic gold prices Aug. 24 morning fell by nearly 1 million VND (48 USD) per tael from the previous day's level to around 47.5 million VND (2,262 USD). (One tael is equivalent to 1.2 ounces).

Cautious psychology seemed to return to the market, however, even after some positive data was released, such as a slowing of inflation during August, Vietcombank Securities Co analysts wrote in a note.

"A prudent approach is necessary in the current volatile market," they said, adding August inflation figures were still not enough to banish concerns over economic uncertainties.

Inflation in August was reported to rise 0.93 percent over July – the lowest increase in the past eight months – and bringing the cumulative annual inflation rate in the first eight months of the year to 15.68 percent.

On the HCM Stock Exchange on Aug. 24, the VN-Index nevertheless lost another 1.15 percent to close at 396.68 points.

Blue chips tumbled, with property developer Vincom (VIC) hitting its floor price while developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) declined by 4.3 percent. Insurer Bao Viet (BVH) and Vietinbank (CTG) each closed off by 3.5 percent and steelmaker Hoa Phat (HPG) slid by 2.8 percent.

The value of trades declined slightly to 477 billion VND (23.2 million USD) on a volume of 27.5 million shares. Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) was again the most-active share on a volume of 1.9 million shares, but SSI also closed down 1.6 percent.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index declined by 0.5 percent to close at 69.08 points. Both market value and volume dropped by over 24 percent from the previous session, reaching 426.5 billion VND (20.7 million USD) with 37.7 million shares changing hands.

Kim Long Securities Co (KLS) was the most-active share nationwide on a volume of 7.3 million shares.

Foreign investors were net sellers on Aug. 24 in HCM City , unloading over a million shares worth about 39.8 billion VND (1.9 million USD). But they were net buyers in Ha Noi, though picking up a net of just over 3 billion VND (152,400 USD) worth of shares./.