Buoyed by investor confidence, the VN-Index rose by 5.45 points or 1.24 per cent to close at 444.28 yesterday.
Around midday, as large
sales were made, the index showed signs of reversing its upward trend,
but purchases of major stocks brought it out of the red by the day’s
end.


The HCM City Stock
Exchange saw 100 gainers and 41 losers, and trading volume reached
14.23 million shares for a turnover of VND530.6 billion (US$32.15
million).


Hoa Phat Group (HPG) was
the most active stock with 1.68 million shares changing hands, followed
by Sacombank (STB) with 1.64 million and Phu My Fertilisers (DPM) with
1.3 million.


Foreign investors were active, buying 2.22 million shares and selling 2.57 million.


The last two days have
stirred hopes that the market is on the mend. Wednesday, in particular,
showed a spectacular return on domestic bourses when the VN-Index rose
7.19 points to close at 437.45 after steady losses in early August.


Pham Thanh Tung,
director of investment consulting company Tri Viet, said some investors
had concerns over the suddenness of the upward trend over the last
three days given the overall downward direction of the market.


Still the move was
normal, he said, as there had been a fair amount of good news, like
world oil prices falling to a three-month low of below $120 a barrel,
domestic exchange rates easing and banks making efforts to cut interest
rates.


"August is a good month
[for the stock market] as the economy is seeing signs of greater
stability," said Dao Trung Kien, analysis director at Vifinfo Company.


Kien said the market would remain steady in the short-term with the VN-Index levelling off between 405 and 480 points.


"But the macro-environment still hasn’t seen enough improvement for the index to make great leaps," he said.


Tung said the long-term
market outlook remained unclear. He suggested investors maintain a
balance between cash and shares of 60-65 per cent/35-40 per cent.


Ha Noi Securities
Trading Centre saw modest transactions with purchases exceeding sales,
helping the HASTC-Index to rise 1.87 points to end at 135.32. Nearly
6.6 million shares were traded for a total value of VND218.44 billion
($13.24 million).


Meanwhile, gold prices
yesterday fell VND1.8 million per tael (equivalent to 1.2 ounces),
following its slump on the global market.


Sai Gon Jewellery
Company’s (SJC) gold price closed at around VND1.770 million per tael,
down VND32,000 per tael compared to Thursday’s figure. Gold closed at
VND1.776 million per tael at Bao Tin Minh Chau Co, a fall of VND31,000.


The US dollar rose
sharply yesterday, hitting a five-month high against the euro as
investors expected the malaise that has afflicted the US economy to
spread to other countries, according to Reuters. The dollar rally
pushed gold down 0.5 per cent to $866.4 an ounce.