Vietnamese shares struggled to stay positive on Wednesday despite the prolonged foreign capital outflow amid worries about the coronavirus pandemic.

The State Bank of Vietnam is ready to sell foreign currency to ensure forex market stability if necessary.

The VN-Index on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange made a modest gain on Wednesday, March 18 after five consecutive negative sessions, thanks to large caps.

The U.S. dollar slipped to a fresh eight-week low as traders bet the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further, after slashing them by 50 basis points this week in an emergency move to shield the economy from the effects of coronavirus.

The 10-year Treasury note fell to an all-time low on Thursday as rekindled coronavirus angst sparked fresh bids for U.S. debt at the expense of riskier assets like stocks.

OPEC has agreed to impose a deeper round of production cuts in order to support oil prices, paving the way for crunch talks with non-OPEC leader Russia, who still has to agree to the plan.

Gold climbed over 1% to a more than one-week high on Thursday as worries over the global spread of the coronavirus spurred safe-haven flows and raised hopes of further monetary policy easing by major central banks.

Stocks plunged on Thursday, erasing most of the steep gains in the previous session, as markets remained highly volatile in the face of the fast-spreading coronavirus.

Stocks in Asia declined in Friday morning trade as volatility continues to grip the markets amid investor concerns over the global coronavirus outbreak.

The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,197 VND per USD on March 6, down 6 VND from the previous day.