Positive economic measures on both the global and
domestic fronts helped give a boost to stock indices over the course of
last week.


The VN-Index increased a modest 4.94 points over the previous week, or 1.44 per cent, to close at 347.05.


Liquidity significantly improved over last week, as
trading volume on the HCM City Stock Exchange reached nearly 84 million
shares for a total turnover of VND1.93 trillion (US$114.88 million).


Many investors had expected the VN-Index to hit
rock-bottom at 300, but the index stopped its downward slide at 322.8
and rebounded on Wednesday, in line with mid-week stock market rallies
around the world.


"The most interesting news to investors last week was
that the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half-a-percentage
point to 1 per cent, the lowest level in nearly half-a-century in an
effort to prop up credit markets and stimulate consumption," said
Nguyen Van Quy, an analyst from FPT Securities' Analysis Department.


The Bank of Japan also cut interest rates to 0.3 per cent.


"The rate cuts boosted investor sentiment,
facilitating strong rallies on global stock markets," said Quy. "But
experts worried that the markets were over-excited as the moves would
not immediately help prevent large-scale economic recession."


Meanwhile, Viet Nam's General Statistic Office early
last week issued figures showing a 0.19-per-cent drop in the consumer
price index (CPI) in October, the first decline in 18 months.


Growing optimism was reinforced by a Ministry of
Finance decision to cut retail petrol prices by VND500 per litre,
raising the cumulative reduction in petrol prices in October to
VND2,000 per litre.


But, Quy said, "the business climate is still facing
difficulties and world oil prices are likely to decline further, so the
fuel price cut didn't have a big impact on the market last week."


Oil and gas shares lost 2.6 per cent of their value
during the week, while industrial goods and services fell 5.16 per cent
and food and beverage shares dropped 4.92 per cent.


According to FPT Securities data, banking and finance
was the only sector in which shares gained on the week, rising 0.04 per
cent in value.


"It will be difficult to forecast a market trend in
the coming weeks," said Quy. "In addition to unpredictable moves on
global markets, local investor psychology has been affected by foreign
investors' net sales for the past few weeks."


Last week, foreigners' net share sales reached VND300
billion ($18.2 million), while their net bond sales reached nearly VND5
trillion ($297.62 million).


Nguyen Son, head of the State Securities Commission's
market development department, said foreigners' total net sales in
October were about $1 billion.


But, Son said, "in a context in which Viet Nam's
foreign currency reserves are significant, net foreign investor sales
at this level haven't had significant impacts on the domestic market."


Meanwhile, PetroVietnam Finance (PVFC) was expected to
list 500,000 shares on the HCM City exchange today, with a combined
value of VND5 trillion ($300 million).


Quy said the additional shares would "have a certain
influence" on the VN-Index, expecting the index to range between 320
and 340 points this week.


At the Ha Noi Securities Trading Centre, the
HASTC-Index closed the week at 114.88, 3.3 points or 2.95 per cent
higher than the previous Friday. About 43.6 million shares changed
hands for a total value of VND1.1 trillion ($65.48 million).