Vietnam stock market halted by computer problem

HANOI, May 27 (Reuters) - The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange .VNI suspended trading on Tuesday because of a computer system problem, an exchange official said.

"The orders started coming in the morning but the server did not accept them," the official said. "There will be an announcement on the suspension of trading for today.

On Monday the index closed down 1.76 percent at 420.51 points, marking three weeks of steady declines in the fledgling stock market, which has occasionally been halted in the past by technological problems. (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh and Grant McCool)