Vietnam index ends down 0.6pc, banks lead

HANOI: Vietnam's benchmark VN Index fell 0.58 percent to close at 596.91 points on Thursday, retreating from a multi-month high reached in the previous sessions as most big-caps lost ground.

Hanoi-based Vietcombank, Vietnam's top lender by market value, led the decliners to fall 2.32 percent, followed by VietinBank, that decreased 2.08 percent and BIDV with a 2.69 percent loss.

Trading volume, however, surged to a level unseen in more than five weeks, at 134 million shares, on extended robust trade by both foreign and domestic investors that had lifted the index to its highest since Nov. 17 on Wednesday.