Vietnam's stock exchange extends upward trend

Though sluggish during the week with alternate ups and downs, Vietnam's stock market still saw the third week in uptrend, surpassing the level of 500 points. The VN-Index of the southern Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange ( HoSE) went up 2.1 points or 0.42 percent to close at 505.64 points on Friday. During the week, VN-Index gained 4.3 point or 0.85 percent against last Friday's closing session. The index experienced three ups and two downs, posting the highest level of 506.48 points on Monday and the lowest level of 503.54 points on Thursday. Last week VN-Index ranged from 496.12 points to 501.34 points. A total of 106.375 million shares worth 1.382 trillion VND (65. 51 million U.S. dollars) changed hands at the HoSE on Friday, a decrease of 63.51 percent in volume and 75.46 percent in value against Thursday. VN-30 index, the new benchmark index for the HoSE which has been applied since Feb. 6, 2012 and tracks the 30 leading shares by both market capitalization and liquidity, closed at 566.28 points on Friday, up 2.83 points, or 0.5 percent against the previous trading day. A total of 27.669 million shares were traded, worth 630.7 billion VND (29.89 million U.S. dollars). On the country's northern bourse, Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index concluded at 64.59 points, up 0.21 points, or 0.33 percent on Friday against the previous trading day's closing session. The market has witnessed a strong cash flow to speculative stocks. Cash flowed into shares of real estate, construction, mining, transport and warehouse. The alternate ups and downs were attributed to the selling activities of foreign investors in the first trading sessions of the week. Selling activities affected investors' psychology and stimulated profit-taking in the market, pulling up market liquidity to record level. Notably, transaction liquidity on Thursday reached over 2.4 trillion Vietnamese dong (nearly 115 million U.S. dollars), the highest liquidity since 2010. However, foreign investors returned to buy shares at the end of the week, with nearly 77.6 billion Vietnamese dong (3.7 million U. S. dollars). Explaining the increasing trend, analysts said the market seems to follow the scenario in recent years, which is often rally at the end of the year. In the short term, the market will continue its uptrend, they said.