The VN-Index, which represents approximately 90 percent of market capitalization on all of Vietnam’s exchanges, fell for the fifth consecutive session, closing down by 13.14 points, or 1.4 percent, Monday afternoon.

Only three blue-chip stocks in the VN30-Index, which represents 30 largest-cap stocks on the VN-Index, rose this session. The index fell sharply by over 12 points (1.39 percent) to 864 points.

In Hanoi, the HNX-Index and Unlisted Public Companies Market Index (UPCoM-Index) fell 1.03 and 0.59 percent respectively.

Oil and gas stocks led the market’s decline this session, as global oil prices plunged further amidst escalating trade tensions.

Front-month Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $60.97 per barrel at 7.44 a.m. Monday morning, down $1.02, or 1.7 percent below last session's close.

GAS shares of PetroVietnam Gas Corporation, Vietnam’s biggest listed energy firm, fell by 3 percent, while stocks of other PetroVietnam's subsidiaries such as PVD, its drilling arm, and PVS, its technical service arm, also fell by around 3 percent.

PVX shares of Vietnam National Petroleum Group, which operates around 2,300 gas stations in the country, also fell by nearly 2 percent.

Banking stocks saw a general decline this session, with only the EIB stock of private bank Eximbank closing positively. Banking stocks lost a total of VND13.49 trillion ($577 million) in market capitalization.

Foreign investor transactions recorded a small net sell of VND24 billion ($1.03 million) on both exchanges, but this was mainly because they sold around VND142 billion ($6.08 million) worth of SBT shares of TTC Sugar, a multi-sector corporation with interests in energy, sugar, real estate and agriculture, in an M&A deal (as opposed to order matching).

In its weekend report, securities firm Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC) said that with the current momentum, the market could in fact fall to 935- 945 points or even 910-920 points in the near future.