In contrast to many analysts’ worries about a sharp correction, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange remained positive on Tuesday over Asian stock markets’ rallies.


The VN-Index of 181 leading shares gained for the second day, adding 14.13 points, 3.3 percent, to 440.56, its highest level since October 3. Among the index members, 156 rose, nine fell and five remain unchanged.


Improving global manufacturing data on Tuesday lifted Asian shares near levels seen before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, but the pace of gains slowed as investors pondered how much longer a heady three-month rally will last, according to Reuters.


Reports on Monday showed easing contractions in manufacturing activity in the United States, the euro zone and Britain last month, while China reported a further expansion in factory activity, Reuters said.


The data reinforced expectations that the worst in the global economy is over, while the widely expected bankruptcy filing by General Motors on Monday removed another uncertainty looming over financial markets, at least in the near-term.


On Vietnam’s major market in Ho Chi Minh City, PetroVietnam Finance Co. (PVF), a unit of Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, surged five percent, or the maximum allowed by the exchange, to VND33,600.


General Director Tong Quoc Truong registered to buy 10,000 shares from June 3, to raise his holding to 12,300 shares by June 30, according to a statement to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange after the market closed yesterday.


The statement did not say how much he will pay for each share.


Pretax profit of Petrolimex is expected to rise to about VND15 billion (US$843,000) this year, up from VND7 billion in 2008, it said in a statement to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.


The statement did not give a reason for the profit forecast.


At the smaller bourse in Hanoi, the HaSTC-Index closed at 154.56, an increase of five points, 3.34 percent.