Market closes out winning week

[phuocpham]

The VN-Index rose by another 3.33 percent on Friday, ending a week of gaining sessions to close at 495.08 points.
Trading volume on the HCM City Stock Exchange remained high, with 51.3 million shares changing hands, worth a combined VND2.13 trillion (US$115.1 million).
Banking shares were the most heavily-traded, with Eximbank (EIB) responsible for 3.36 million transactions and Sacombank (STB) 3.12 million.
The market on Saturday saw 193 advancers, with many blue chips hitting their ceiling prices including Refrigeration Electrical Engineering (REE), General Forwarding (GMD), Cables and Telecommunications Materials (SAM), Song Da (SJS) and Kinh Do (KDC). Only three codes registered losses on the day.
Analysts from Bao Viet Securities Company have forecast that, once the VN-Index had passed the resistance level of 480, a rising trend in the mid-term would be confirmed.
"Much of the current investment into the stock market is springing from investors’ own capital, which is helping stabilise the market – unlike investment proceeding from financial leverage," said Bao Viet analyst Nguyen Duc Thi.
Thi also predicted several short corrections in the near future, following a number of consecutive increasing days on the market.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index saw its third consecutive day of gains, picking up another 3.18 percent to close at 161.97. Trading volume decreased slightly to 21.3 million shares, worth a total of VND616.9 billion ($33.3 million). Gainers outnumbered losers on the northern bourse by 231-16.
The State Bank of Viet Nam yesterday announced its decision to retain the prime rate at 8 percent, sweeping aside rumours that it was poised to raise rates and relieving concerns over bank liquidity.
The General Statistics Office also announced an annual inflation rate of 6.88 percent for the year, lower than the expected 7 percent, and further easing investor worries over Government capacity to rein in inflation and build investor confidence, said Viet Nam International Securities Company analysts.
Foreign investors gave off mixed signals yesterday, however. They continued as net buyers on the southern bourse but at a reduced value of just VND5.16 billion ($278,918), down 94 percent from the previous session. The net volume of buys was just 15,710 shares.
Meanwhile, foreign investors were net sellers in Ha Noi of a net of 327,400 shares, worth 8.64 billion ($467,027).