About 60 per cent of shares nose-dived when Viet Nam's stock market opened Monday morning, driving down both of the nation's indices.


On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index lost 1.28 per cent to close today at 422.12. Market value fell 61 per cent against Friday's figure, to end at VND495 (US$23.8 million), with just 29.5 million shares changing hands.
Losers overwhelmed gainers by 184-48, with large-caps declining.
Eight of the 10 biggest shares by market capitalisation lost value, with insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) dropping to the floor, while others declined by between 0.9 per cent to 2.5 per cent. Just two codes posted gains. They were Sacombank (STB), which closed 1.8 per cent up; and dairy producer Vinamilk (VNM), up 0.8 per cent.
STB was also the most active stock on the southern bourse with 1.37 million shares exchanged. It closed at VND14,500 ($0.70).
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index declined 1.35 per cent to finish at 70.38 points. Today's trades remained sluggish, with just 36.7 million shares, worth nearly VND363.5 billion ($17.5 million), traded.
Losers outnumbered gainers by 211-59. Kim Long Securities (KLS), the most active stock nationwide, saw 3.6 million shares exchanged. However, it lost 3.4 per cent of its value to close at VND11,400 ($0.55).