Shares sank on Monday morning on the two national stock exchanges as investor sentiment was dampened by slumps of major blue chips.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange opened the week on a positive note but declined gradually toward the end of the morning trade following falls of VN30 stocks.

The VN-Index was down 0.54 per cent to end at 1,004.62 points.

Twenty-two of the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity (VN30) lost value and only six advanced. Another two closed flat.

Biggest losers included Vinamilk (VNM), Vietcombank (VCB), Vietinbank (CTG), the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), FPT Corp (FPT) and FLC Faros Construction (ROS) which dropped by more than 1 per cent each.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged down 0.68 per cent to close the morning trade at 105.31 points.

Liquidity on the two bourses was modest at just 90 million shares worth VND2.4 trillion (US$103.5 million) being traded.

Foreign investors were net sellers on HCM City’s exchange with value of more than VND51 billion while they only bought net value of just VND600 million.

The afternoon trade starts at 1pm. — VNS