The Vietnamese stock market seemed the only in Asia to
have avoided a downturn last week after the hesitant implementation of
the US Government's US$700-billion bailout and the bankruptcy of its
biggest lending bank Washington Mutual.


Early last week, the US Government released its
bailout details, which spurred global investors in two early trading
sessions. Investors continued to wait to see the plan implemented, and
treated securities investment with a similar wait-and-see attitude.


Unfortunately, US parties have yet to reach an agreement on implementing the bailout.


The week got worse late on Thursday when the biggest
US bank Washington Mutual officially declared bankruptcy due to a
shortage of liquidity, a day after JP Morgan Chase poured $1.9 billion
into buying it back.


The bankruptcy, the sixth in the US financial system
this month, continued shaking investors' faith in the bailout,
discouraging securities investment. As a result, most Asian markets
ended last week in a downturn.


The Vietnamese stock exchange proved an exception,
where among five sessions in the week the local exchange only fell on
Wednesday in both HCM City and Hanoi bourses.


The VN-Index last week added 10.19 per cent to 483.80, with 142 gaining codes, 42 sliding and one unchanged.


Two major stocks PPC of Pha Lai Thermal Power and PVD
of PetroVietnam Drillings were the biggest gainers of the week, while
the blue chip sector also contributed in pulling investors back into
securities investment.


STB of Sacombank, HPG of Hoa Phat Group and SAM of
Cables and Telecom Materials were the busiest codes of the week, with a
total trading volume at 7.42 million, 3.13 million and 3.01 million
shares, respectively. Other blue chips such as SSI of Saigon Securities
Inc, DPM of Phu My Fertilisers or FPT of Financing and Promoting
Technology also saw more than 1 million shares change hands.


Market liquidity was 6 per cent higher than the
previous week, with market volume at 108.77 million shares at a value
of VND3.95 trillion (US$235.23 million).


According to many local securities analysts, the
impact of the US financial system's recession was insignificant on the
local exchange.


"In fact, there are no globalised enterprises in our
stock markets. Other than the fact that the US is one of the biggest
importing markets of Vietnam, the other factors were of no concern,"
said Bien Viet Securities' deputy director Vu Duc Nghia.


Nghia also said that the market was too small to feel
a direct impact from the US financial recession. "If there had been any
impact, it would have been on investors' attitudes toward the recession
or concerns when they saw foreign institutions selling shares at
remarkable volumes recently."


According to the Market Development Department under
the State Securities Commission, the sale from foreign funds mainly
aimed to adjust the investment portfolio in a bid to cope with
difficulties given by this tough period of the economy.


"In addition, they continued buying back shares, not only selling," said Nguyen Son, head of the department.


Last week, foreigners bought a total of 25.03 million
shares and sold 16.88 million. This sector also focused their purchase
in companies with good business performance, including HPG, DPM and PPC.


"Anyway, the foreign sector could not help much on the
local exchange in the entire year, as they have more than the
Vietnamese exchange to pour money into," said Vu Hoang Ha, a veteran
investor in Hanoi.


Ha also said that the market this week would see a mix
of ups and downs, as it would still be governed by the psychological
factor that came from its leading domestic traders, the young and
inexperienced investors.


At the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre, the
HASTC-Index also gained 9.26 per cent to 160.31, with a total 55.63
million shares traded worth of VND685.10 billion ($40.77 million).


Big stocks like ACB of Asia Commercial Bank, VCG of
constructor Vinaconex Group or KLS of Kim Long Securities got the
heaviest trading volume, with each share seeing over 5 million shares
change hands.


Foreigners last week balanced their purchases and
sales in this market when they bought 3.27 million and sold 3.18
million shares.


Last week, the stock market welcomed some important
news, including a higher FDI (foreign direct investment) at $57.1
billion both existing and newly registered projects in the first nine
months, a $500-million trade deficit in September, and the State Bank's
confirmation of the prime interest rate at 14 per cent.


"Though no big news came in, we expected this
information would continue confirming investors' faith in the
Government's plans to stabilise the economy by the end of this year.
Thus the stock market should run smoothly," said Nghia.