Vietnamese Stock Slump 6% on China Conflict Fears

        0742 GMT [Dow Jones] Stocks on Vietnam's benchmark Hochiminh VN Index fall more than 6% Thursday as clashes in the South China Sea between Vietnamese and Chinese ships spark a selloff. Local brokers say the losses were compounded by margin calls, with the index already down more than 3% this month off a seven-year high. "It's a bit of carnage out there," says Rory McAllister, institutional sales manager at broker Viet Capital Securities. "That in turn triggers margin call fears," he says, adding that the market will likely bounce back on Friday morning when foreign funds have an opportunity to pre-fund accounts and buy knocked-down stocks. In Vietnam, shares can only be bought when funds are present in the account, which takes 24 hours to process. (jake.watts@wsj.com)
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        May 08, 2014 03:42 ET (07:42 GMT)