HA NOI (Bizhub) — Vietnamese shares extended losses this morning and profit-taking continued as investors were more cautious after a significant slump yesterday.

The VN-Index on the southern bourse closed the morning session 0.27 per cent lower at 620.75 points. Blue chips were mixed with eight gainers and 12 decliners, dragging the VN30-Index down by 0.24 per cent to 622.42 points.

Shares of Hoang Anh Gia Lai JSC (HAG) and its subsidiary HAGL Agricultural JSC (HNG), which had gained more than 6 per cent on Tuesday and Wednesday thanks to the information on debt restructuring, eased this morning with the former ending flat and the latter rising slightly by 1.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell from their 2016 high and dragged energy stocks down, with PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (PVG), PetroVietnam Drilling (PVD), PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation (PVT) and PetroVietnam General Services Corporation (PET) trading flat or showing declines.

On the Ha Noi Exchange, the HNX-Index ended the morning session at 81.89 points, declining by 0.37 per cent.

Investors' caution resulted in low liquidity, with some 34 million shares changing hands on the southern bourse, worth VND606.44 billion (US$27 million). On the Ha Noi Exchange, two million shares were traded, worth VND18.8 billion. — VNS