Shares rose again last week on both national bourses with the VN-Index increasing 0.82 per cent to reach 601.75 and the HNX-Index surging 7.02 per cent to reach 90.6 points.

Market transactions became boisterous on the HCM City Stock Exchange, matching the volume on the HCM City Exchange at 49.7 per cent with 1.136 billion shares changing hands. On the Ha Noi Exchange, an average 654.2 million shares changed hands at an increase of 31.7 per cent higher than the previous week's figure.

Last week, the stock market also welcomed positive news as the State Bank of Viet Nam on Tuesday lowered the interest rate cap on bank deposits of up to six months by 1 percentage point to 6 per cent, as part of efforts to boost the growth of credit lending.

This news brought excitement to the stock market, particularly for bank stocks. However, trading in leading stocks, such as VNM, GAS, MSN, VIC, FPT and HPG, remained modest.

Selling pressure was attributed to the low trading volume of leading stocks. The fund restructuring of the Market Vector Vietnam ETF has had a considerable impact on the market's movement.

The market also witnessed strong cash flows into speculative stock last week, which helped spur liquidity on both national stock exchanges. Speculative stocks have started to attract cash flow from traders relating to real estate, securities and mining industries. Further, cash flow has had a large impact on the strong market liquidity.

Foreign investors concluded last week as net sellers, rising by VND717 billion (US$33.98 million). This was attributed to the fund restructuring of the Market Vector Viet Nam ETF.

On the HCM City Stock Exchange, foreign investors were net sellers by VND343 billion ($16.26 million) , as cash flowed towards blue chips reporting positive business results, including Hoa Phat group (HPG), PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD), PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corporation (PPC), Sacombank (STB) and Ocean Group Corporation (OGC). Strongest net buyers focused on Masan group (MSN), PetroVietnam Transportation Corporation (PVT), Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG) and Vingroup (VIC).

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, foreign investors were also net sellers by VND374 billion ($17.73 million), focusing on PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) and VNDirect Securities Corporation (VND).

Securities companies were also net sellers by VND173 billion ($8.2 million), with nearly 15 million shares changing hands. Transactions were focused on stocks with large market prices of an average VND43,000 per share.

Analysts predict that this week the stock market will not have much support, as macroeconomic news from the economy in March will be the first report, but it is difficult to believe it will create high expectations for investors.

Source: VNS