News of a tigher official cap on the deposit interest rates that can be paid by commercial banks, a figure which bears directly on the interest rates that banks charge on commercial loans, failed to revive investor spirits yesterday.

On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index declined by another 0.43 per cent from last Friday's close to end yesterday's session at 435.48 points, even as advancers managed to outnumber decliners by a margin of 155-96.

The value of trades was down 26 per cent from Friday's level, totalling VND951 billion (US$45.3 million), while volume also decreased by 14 per cent to 66.8 million shares.

Blue chips slumped, with 11 of the 30 leading shares tracked by the VN30 index posting losses, including recently-listed PetroVietnam Gas (GAS), down 3.6 per cent; insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), down 2.9 per cent; and Sacombank (STB), down 1.9 per cent. The VN30 Index declined 0.16 per cent to a close of 513.44 points.

The head of VNDirect Securities Co's investment consulting division, Ho Thi Huyen, said news of lower interest rates and fuel prices was good. But, she added, "on the stock market, nothing is certain, and any forecasts are only estimates because the situation changes very quickly and investor psychology can change in one or two sessions."

Market expectations tended to run ahead of actual economic performance, Huyen noted. "The stock market– the market based on expectations– has run 50km while the economy has run only 5-10km," she said.

Yesterday, the HCM City Stock Exchange announced that it would apply the market price order method (MP) starting July 2 in a bid to boost market liquidity. This method gives priority to trading volume despite transaction prices, increasing order matching speed.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange yesterday, the HNX-Index also lost 0.6 per cent to close at 75.60 points. The value of trades reached only about VND564 billion ($27 million). Habubank (HBB) seized the spot as most-active share nationwide, with 4.3 million traded.

Foreign investors concluded yesterday as net buyers on both exchanges, picking up shares worth a combined VND21.7 billion ($1 million).