Ho Chi Minh City stocks Wednesday extended their gains
into a sixth straight day as sentiments continued to be buoyed by the
central bank’s cut in the main interest rate and global stock rally.


The VN-Index moved up 16.39 points, or 4.53 percent, to close at 377.83 points.


The trading board was a splash of green soon after the
opening bell thanks to heavy buying. But many investors, anticipating
further rises, were reluctant to sell and the volume fell to 16.3
million shares from Tuesday’s 19.5 million.


Of the index members, 156 rose, seven lost and four remained unchanged.


Tran Thi Quy, a broker at Viet Dragon Securities
Corporation, told Thanh Nien Daily that good news from international
stock markets boosted investors’ confidence.


“Foreign investors have started to buy shares again after days of heavy selling,” she said.


Quy also said the central bank’s rate cut, effective from Wednesday, contributed to the market’s rebound.


The newly-listed PetroVietnam Finance Co., 10 percent
owned by Morgan Stanley, advanced for the first day after two
consecutive days of losses. It rose VND1,100, or 4.83 percent, to close
at VND23,900.


Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank, the
exchange’s only listed lender, was the most active stock, with more
than 2.58 million shares changing hands.


The HCMC-based bank, known as Sacombank, was up
VND1,100, or 4.76 percent, to close at VND24,200 after saying it would
buy back 25 million shares.


Nguyen Xuan Minh, chief executive of the Ho Chi Minh
City-based Vietnam Asset Management Ltd., said by e-mail to Bloomberg
Wednesday: “People in the markets expected Barack Obama to become the
next US president. With Obama's victory, the good sentiment will
probably continue in the short run as the news will create some sense
of optimism globally. Polls in the US have suggested that Obama is a
better candidate to help revive the US economy.”


Speaking about the Vietnamese market, he said,
“Positive measures to stimulate the market and growth by the government
in the past couple of weeks, including the key interest rate cut and
increase of bank liquidity, have brought back positive responses in the
market.


“Corporate earnings have generally started to
deteriorate, especially in the export and materials sectors. I am a
little concerned about the fourth quarter.


“Raw materials and commodity prices have declined
quite sharply in the past couple of months, damaging many companies
with high inventories which were acquired at higher prices. Yet,
certain sectors and companies are still attractive, including domestic
consumer demand.”


Global stocks


Asian shares hit a three-week high and the dollar
extended gains as Obama became the next US president, ending
uncertainty about who will lead the world's largest economy in the
midst of great financial peril.


The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan rose for
a seventh consecutive session on Wednesday, and was up 2.5 percent as
of 07:00 GMT, after earlier hitting the highest since October 16.


The gains came after US stocks on Tuesday enjoyed their biggest election day rally ever.


Tokyo's Nikkei rose 4.5 percent. Markets in Hong Kong,
Singapore and Shanghai rose more than 3 percent, while stocks in
Australia and South Korea gained over 2 percent.


But shares in Taiwan and India declined.