After a brief rise early in the morning session, shares continued to plunge on the HCM City Stock Exchange, led by a slump in blue chips.

The VN-Index closed slightly off 0.01 per cent from yesterday at 491.22 points, but steep declines for the top 30 shares on the bourse pulled the VN30 down more significantly by 0.39 per cent at 552.64 points.

Following news of the sale of Gemadept Tower in HCM City yesterday, transportation firm Gemadept (GMD) slid 1.5 per cent this morning to VND38,800 ($1.85), its first decrease after three continuous sessions of hitting the ceiling limit for rises.

Among a few gainers, PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) rose 2.9 per cent to VND53,500 ($2.55) while dairy giant Vinamilk (VNM) was up 0.9 per cent to VND114,000 ($5.43).

Overall trading remained sluggish with more than 28 million shares, worth just VND583.2 billion (US$27.8 million), changing hands.

Tan Tao Investment - Industry (ITA) continued to be the most active stock on the southern bourse with more than 3 million shares traded, but the shares slumped 2.9 per cent to VND6,800 a share.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost another 0.26 per cent to finish the morning's session at 60.46 points.

Trading volume continued to slide, amounting to 22.7 million shares, worth just VND174 billion ($8.3 million), with Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB) being the most active code on trades of 7.85 million shares. SHB is being traded at VND6,600 a share.

The afternoon session will start at 1pm.