Shares tumbled again after last Friday's technical correction. On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index lost 3.1 per cent to 387.32 points.

Decliners overwhelmed advancers by almost nine times.

Among the decliners were blue chips such as insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Eximbank (EIB), property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG), financial conglomerate Ocean Group (OGC) and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF), all of which hit their floor prices.

Blue chips were the major force to pull the VN30 down 3.13 per cent, reaching 457.95 points.

The overall market value on the southern bourse halved over last Friday morning to VND464.16 billion (US$22.1 million) on a volume of 32.9 million shares.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, trading value reached only 60 per cent of the previous morning session, totalling VND252.14 billion ($12 million). The volume of trades fetched only 27.24 million shares.

The benchmark HNX-Index closed at 60.45 points, a 4.2 per cent off. Meanwhile, the HNX30 – representing the exchange's top shares – dropped 4.5 per cent to 112.96 points.

Trading will resume at 1pm.