Shares continued their downward spiral this morning on the domestic stock exchange despite an overnight rebound on the US stock market following positive news of a declining unemployment rate, lower Italian bond yield and Greece choosing a new Prime Minister.

The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange slumped another 1.18 per cent over yesterday to close today's session at 396.30 points, as the number of decliners was four times higher than advancers.

The trading volume soared over 47 per cent, however, totalling 37.3 million shares, while value of trades also increased 12 per cent to VND574.4 billion (US$27.4 million).

Blue chips led the Index fall with most major stocks shedding value, particularly property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and PetroVietnam Finance, which dropped by the daily limit of 5 per cent.

Only Military Bank (MBB) and Sacombank (STB) went against the trend, each posting gains of around 1.5 per cent. STB was also the most active code in HCM City on a volume of 1.57 million shares exchanged.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost another 0.34 per cent to finish at 63.60 points. Market value declined 20 per cent over yesterday to VND207 billion ($9.9 million) as just 21.4 million shares changed hands.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 128-74.

Kim Long Securities Co (KLS) was again the most heavily-traded stock nationwide with over 2.6 million shares traded, closing unchanged at VND10,000 ($0.488).