Shares recorded substantial losses on December 16 following the trials of former baking officials.

Huyen Nhu, a former official of Vietinbank (CTG) admitted on December 16 that she had misappropriated 4 trillion VND (187.8 million USD) from several institutions and individuals. Meanwhile, former co-founder of the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) Nguyen Duc Kien was sentenced to 30 years in imprisonment on December 15 due to illegal business activities, tax evasion and misappropriation of property.

However, these cases were exposed quite a long time ago and have already made their impact on the market.

Analysts contended that the December 16 slump was caused by herd psychology, which was fueled by some investors who lost patience waiting for a rally.

Pham Anh Tu, Director of MB Securities, predicted that the market will soon decline to where the VN-Index reached 520 points and then pick up.

On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index slumped by 2.3 percent to 535.14 points.

The total value and volume of transactions rose to nearly 2.5 trillion VND (117.37 million USD) and 128 million shares respectively.

Blue chips were also hit hard, with the VN30 Index tracking the southern bourse’s leading stocks falling 2 percent to 591.78 points.

Among the top decliners were insurer Bao Viet (BVH), Phu My Fertiliser (DPM), Da Nang Rubber (DRC), logistics firm Gemadept (GMD), HCM City Securities (HCM), steelmakers Hoa Phat (HPG), Hoa Sen (HSG) and Kinh Do Confectionery (KDC). Pha Lai Thermalpower (PPC) and PetroVietnam Drilling Services (PVD) and real estate companies Vingroup (VIC), FLC (FLC) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) also suffered hefty losses.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also lost 1.9 percent to reach 82.64 points at a total turnover of 815.9 billion VND (38.3 million USD).

The HNX30 Index, which represents the top 30 stocks in terms of capitalisation and liquidity, experienced a 2.82 percent fall to reach 161.70 points.-VNA