Blue chips advanced on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, lifting the HNX-30 Index by 0.28 per cent to 105.10 points, even as the bourse's benchmark HNX-Index declined by 0.7 per cent overall on the day to close at just 56.07 points.

The value of trades spiked to VND805.9 billion ($38.3 million), over three times the previous day's figures, as volume totalled 67.3 million shares.

Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), the centre of a recent scandal, saw brisk activity September 19 before bottoming out at VND15,900 per share. Nearly 3.9 million ACB shares changed hands through order matching, with 32.94 million shares traded just before 2pm yesterday via negotiation method for VND16,000 per share – a transaction that represented over 3.6 per cent of the bank's charter capital.

At a bank meeting on Tuesday, three key personnel, incuding the bank's chairman and vice chairman, resigned due to their involvement in fraud allegations facing bank tycoon Nguyen Duc Kien. The news once again reignited investor fears over the security of the country's banking operations.

Shares on the HCM City Stock Exchange managed to post modest gains during the final minutes of yesterday's session, enabling the VN-Index to close flat at 394.55 points. Driven by heavy sales, however, the value of trades improved over the previous session to VND697 billion (US$33 million).

The decline of nearly half of the market's 30 leading shares by capitalisation and liquidity sent the VN30-Index down by 0.7 per cent to 457.13 points. Among blue chips managing to post gains were insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Phu My Fertilisers (DPM), steelmakers Hoa Phat (HPG) and Hoa Sen (HSG), Military Bank (MBB) and property developer Vingroup (VIC).

Foreign investors were net sellers in HCM City, unloading shares worth VND10.7 billion ($500,000), but they were buyers in Ha Noi by a margin of VND15.7 billion ($747,600)