The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange retreated on Thursday as investors were jittery ahead of falls on the U.S.’s Wall Street and Asia’s markets.

VN-Index, Vietnam’s major stock index, closed lower 7.33 points, or 1.26 percent, at 574.78. Of its 176 members, 112 stocks dropped, 49 gained and 15 unchanged. Turnover remained very high, with more than 72 million shares worth VND3.8 trillion being traded.

Asian shares outside Japan fell on Thursday, mirroring investor caution in the U.S., according to Reuters. Japan's benchmark Nikkei index jumped 1.7 percent after a three-day holiday break, but the rise reflected gains made in the rest of the region at the start of the week.

A 0.8 percent slide in the Dow Jones on Wednesday, however, weighed on the rest of Asia's markets and the MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan was down 1.2 percent.

Shares in Korea fell more than 1 percent with some concern that a strengthening Korean won could hurt export competitiveness. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index shed 2 percent.

“The market will likely to hover around 580 points before heading towards the psychological level of 600,” Nguyen Trong Nghia, research director at the Thang Long Securities Co. told finance newspaper Dau Tu Chung Khoan. “The market’s outlook remains positive amid the country’s healthy macroeconomics factors”.

Lam Dong Mineral and Building Material Joint-Stock Company (LBM) increased 4.42 percent to VND18,900. The construction materials producer said on the exchange’s Web site today that Nguyen Danh Cuong, member of the board of directors, registered to sell 10,000 shares out of his holdings of 16,020 in three months starting from tomorrow.

Phan Pham Phu Nam Chau, member of the supervisory board, also made a similar pattern, registering to sell 1,150 shares to cut his holdings to 2,900 before December 25.

Idico Urban and House Development Joint-Stock Company (UIC) lost 3.94 percent to close at VND31,700. Nguyen Thi Kim Dung, head of the supervisory board, sold 15,000 shares out of her holdings of 18,000 on Wednesday, according to a statement on the bourse’s Web site.

The smaller exchange in Hanoi took a breather today, with the HNX-Index edging down 0.31 point, or 0.17 percent, to close at 180.77. The UPCoM-Index of unlisted stocks also crept down 0.63 point, 0.94 percent, to close at 66.33 as of 11 pm.