Shares opened high on the HCM City Stock Exchange this morning but the increase slowed down as several large-cap stocks retreated.

The VN-Index opened with a gain of more than five points early in the morning as investors celebrated the news that the national asset management company would start operations this April. However, modest liquidity restrained the uptrend with the Index closing the morning's session up just 0.33 per cent at 491.60 points.

More than 24 million shares, worth almost VND650 billion (US$31 million), changed hands.

Blue chips' performance was mixed. Many rose in the morning but retreated towards the end of the morning and closed flat such as Vinamilk (VNM), Military Bank (MBB), Masan Group (MSN), Sacombank (STB) and Eximbank (EIB).

Some maintained their gains, like Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), VinGroup (VIC), PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) and Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG).

The VN30 tracking the 30 largest shares was up 0.51 per cent overall at 557.66 points, with shares of Vietinbank (CTG) being the most active code on the bourse on trades of 1.17 million shares. CTG was down 0.53 per cent, however, traded at VND18,900 ($0.90) a share.

Meanwhile the HNX-Index declined 0.53 per cent on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, closing the morning's session at 60.61 points.

Trading value was low at over VND159 billion ($7.6 million).

The three most active codes, Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB), Sacomreal (SCR) and PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) all closed unchanged with trades from 2.3-4.3 million shares.

The afternoon session will resume at 1pm.