The volume of buying and
selling of shares was relatively equal in the last few days, making the
week after the long holiday somewhat unimpressive.
Last week the VN-Index rose only 1.40 per cent to 546.66.

Blue chips were not included in the list of the biggest gainers last week, while small stocks were better show-cased.


Thu Duc Trading and
Import-Export (TMC) gained the most with a 15.4 per cent increase to
end at VND42,600, Doan Xa Port (DXP) stock went up 15.3 per cent to end
at VND33,900, and DIC Investment and Trading (DIC) went up 15.2 per
cent to end at VND24,200.


Some usually solid stocks
such as, Pha Lai Thermal Power (PPC) and Kinh Do Corporation (KDC),
experienced significant losses in the market with decreases of 9.1 per
cent to VND34,900 and 6.2 per cent to VND68,000, respectively.


"Investors continued
profiting by selling off blue chip stocks, which made some of those
stocks take a downturn this week," said local brokerage EuroCapital
Securities.


There was also no evidence
last week that lower-than-expected inflation was enough to spur
purchases while no supporting news came last week.


The southern market saw a
total 71.07 million shares change hands in the week, generating a
turnover of VND2.93 trillion (USD177.58 million.


The biggest
market-capitalised codes saw a lot of trading. These include firms such
as Sacombank (STB) with 10.22 million shares, followed by Cable and
Material Telecoms (SAM) with 3.76 million shares, and Hoa Phat Group
(HPG) with 3.25 million shares.


Foreigners were very active
in local exchange this week with 4.56 million shares bought and 9.13
million sold. Buys from this sector were primarily of blue chip stocks,
such as Financing and Promoting for Technology (FPT), Vinamilk (VNM) or
HPG.


Last week, the Viet Nam
Securities Depository released data on foreign trading registered in me
centre. As of September, the local exchange has registered over 12,000
foreign investors.


"This number proves the
local exchange has been attractive for foreigners, despite the
difficulties it has experienced," said the brokerage.


Huynh Anh Tuan, director of
SJC Securities, said the volume of foreign activity in the local
exchange during this period was quite normal.


"If we analyse the huge
sales and purchases made by local investors recently, we can understand
how common these actions are for the foreign sector," Tuan added. He
claimed that foreigners now see better performance in the local
economy, which has ensured them steady profits with securities
investments.


"In addition, a series of
newly unlisted shares will come to the bourse during the final months
of 2008, encouraging foreigners to sell stocks and to invest in new
ones. Huge sales from overseas funds is a given," Tuan said.


The HASTC-Index in the
northern market went a different direction last week as it slid a total
of 1.17 per cent to 189.14. The market saw 38.84 million shares change
hands, with a total turnover of VND1.91 trillion (US$115.76 million).


Despite the overall
downturn, some stocks still retained their upward trend, such as Kim
Long Securities (KLS), with an increase of 22.1 per cent to VND32,100,
and Bao Viet Securities (BVS), which went up 22.2 per cent to VND82,600.


However, due to a
significant volume of new shares pipelined into the market last week,
the index could not keep its upward trend. Last week, the northern
market welcomed over 18 million shares from Vinaconex (VCG) and
Electricity Construction Co (VE1).


According to EuroCapital
Securities, the market this week would continue to view a promotion in
liquidity from some commercial banks which have carried out securities
lending as good news which will spur some trading.