Domestic share prices went up slightly on Oct. 2, as a
revised version of the US financial rescue plan was endorsed by the
Senate.


The US Senate approved a 700 billion USD bailout of
the financial industry, putting pressure on the House of
Representatives to approve the plan that political and financial
leaders called crucial to averting economic catastrophe.


The VN-Index gained 5.84 points or 1.29 percent to
close at 460.25. Trading volume fell by 20 percent to 15.16 million
shares, with a total value of 552.35 billion VND (33.47 million USD).


The HCM Stock Exchange saw 123 gainers and 26 losers at the end of the day.


Sacombank (STB) led the market in terms of trading
volume with orders for 1.83 million shares. STB was followed by Vietnam
Tanker Joint Stock Co (VTO) and Hoa Phat Group (HPG) with around
900,000 shares traded each.


Transaction levels for foreign investors were modest,
with 933,000 shares bought and 2.75 million units sold. Net sales
valued reached nearly 95 billion VND (5.75 million USD).


On the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre, the
HASTC-Index closed at 152.96 after increasing 3.26 points or 2.18
percent on the day. Trading volume fell slightly to about 10.5 million
shares with a total revenue of 352.2 billion VND (21.35 million USD).


Kim Long Securities (KLS) showed the most action on
the northern bourse, with 1.32 million shares traded. This was followed
by Asian Commercial Bank (ACB) with about 800,000 shares and Petroleum
Technical Services Corp (PVS) with about 720,000 units. Some domestic
moves also helped stock indexes rebound.


Three leading local petroleum importers including the
Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex), cut their kerosene
prices on Wednesday by 1,000 VND to 17,000 VND per litre, following the
Ministry of Finance’s approval.


Petrolimex said the cut in retail prices for kerosene
was to support production activities, as world oil prices had declined
significantly to around 100 USD per barrel. Meanwhile, banks have given
lending incentives to small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and
exporters to boost the private sector market during difficult economic
times.


The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam
(BIDV) offered SMEs an annual rate of 17.8 percent starting Wednesday,
compared to an average lending rate of 18 percent amongst commercial
banks; while ACB decided to reserve 2 trillion VND (121.2 million USD)
for lending to private enterprises and household businesses.


Ngo Van Minh, Director of Euro Capital Securities’
Analysis Department commented on the potential effects of the 700
billion USD bailout plan, saying it would help stabilise the financial
arena, but would not be able to help the US economy recover yet.


The latest economic indexes for the US showed that the world’s leading economy was on the edge of recession, he added.