Vietnamese stocks fell on Friday, as the country's central bank intervened to stabilize the country's foreign exchange rate.

The Vietnam index fell 3% to 1,175, its lowest level in nearly a month.

A Hanoi-based stock broker said the shares fell as the central bank was taking steps to withdraw dong from the market to keep the foreign exchange rate stable.

The State Bank of Vietnam on Thursday sold 10 trillion dong ($411.3 million) worth of 28-day bills, state media reported on Friday.

This is the first time the central bank issued bills in more than six months amid excessive dong liquidity, online newspaper VietnamNet reported.

The dong has weakened by 1.0% so far this month.

The buy/sell interbank exchange rate on Friday at market open was 24,320/24,350, compared to 24,270/24,310 on Thursday.

($1=24,315 dong) (Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Varun H K)