The stock market held steady last week, with liquidity and trading revenue dropping just slightly.
Ha Noi Securities
Company said early last week that the market was now at a level trend
with both ups and downs to come, as no noticeable news about the
general economic environment was expected over the next few weeks.


HCM City Stock Exchange’s VN-Index lost 2.81 points over the week, or 0.62 per cent, to close at 444.28.


Transactions were
modest, averaging around 14 million shares traded per day, a 2.3 per
cent fall from the previous week. Daily turnover averaged nearly VND492
billion (US$29.8 million).


Banking and finance
shares generally lost value, including Sacombank (STB), Saigon
Securities Inc (SSI) of the southern bourse and Asia Commercial Bank
(ACB) and Bao Viet Securities (BVS) of the Ha Noi market.


Some major stocks including FPT, Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp (REE) held steady.


Binh Dinh Minerals Joint
Stock Company (BMC) dodged the trend, increasing for five consecutive
days to close the week at VND102,000 ($6.7). The stock has risen 100
per cent since the market started rebounding in mid-June.


FPT Securities analyst
Nguyen Van Quy said the market was seeing a strong division of shares,
and "a long-term investment strategy based on basic analysis of firm
performances growing more popular as investors reorganise their
portfolios following economic development".


Foreign investors were
net buyers last week, grabbing 11.2 million shares and selling 9.3
million units. Their net purchase value reached around VND211.7 billion
($12.8 million).


At the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre, the HASTC-Index ended at 135.32 after losing 5.13 points or 3.6 per cent over the week.


Around 7 million shares
changed hands per day on the northern bourse, down 10 per cent from the
previous week. Daily revenue reached about VND223.2 billion ($13.5
million), a fall of 14.6 per cent.


Pham Thanh Tung,
director of investment consulting company Tri Viet, said that there had
been a fair amount of good news fsor the market, like domestic exchange
rates easing and banks making efforts to cut interest rates.


Director of the Ministry
of Finance’s Price Management Department Nguyen Tien Thoa said last
Thursday that the fall in world oil prices, which were hovering around
a three-month low of $120, was a good sign for the economy. "We are
closely following the development to take suitable measures."


Investors were expecting
an adjustment of domestic petrol prices, which were hiked by 30 per
cent last month, to boost the stock market.


The State Bank of Viet Nam
last Thursday authorised commercial joint stock banks to buy back
shares. Experts said that if banks were able to buy back shares when
necessary, it would help stabilise the banking area in particular and
the stock market in general.


Meanwhile, gold prices continued to fall last week following its slump on the global market.


SaiGon Jewellery
Company’s (SJC) gold price last Friday closed at around VND1.770
million ($107.27) per tael, down VND94,000 per tael week-on-week.


Gold closed at VND1.776 million ($107.64) per tael at Bao Tin Minh Chau Company, a fall of VND92,000.