Nhan Dan Online - The VN-Index saw its fifth consecutive sharp decline today, dropping below 500 points.

The index lost 17.44 points or 3.39% and closed at 497.01 points. Trading volume also decreased compared to those in recent sessions. Specifically, investors traded 17 million units via order matching for VND 610 billion.

Only seven stocks managed gains while 147 suffered losses, 121 of these hitting maximum losses, and eight others stayed unchanged.

The HASTC-Index of the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre also dropped below 170 points, at 169.29 as it lost 5.9 points. This has also been the fifth decrease in a row of the index.

There were 14 gainers against 129 losers. Three stocks were reported having no trade and three others staying still. Trading volume was also down as only 8.8 million units were matched for VND 463 billion.

Thu Thin