Sluggish trades continued on the nation's stock exchanges on Wednesday, with volumes falling to a four-month low.
On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the value of trades dropped to just over VND1 trillion (US$55.3 million) on a volume of 33.1 million shares.
Nevertheless, a rally in a few major shares helped carry the VN-Index back over the 500-mark, with the Index ending the day up 0.59 per cent to 500.51 points.
Shares of property trader Vincom (VIC) rallied by 3.2 per cent, while Sacombank (STB) closed up nearly 1 per cent. Tan Tao Industrial Park (ITA) rose by 1.28 per cent and ended the day as the most-active share, with 2.4 million changing hands.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index struggled to a more meagre gain of 0.29 per cent on the day to close at 157.06 points. Volume reached just 19.4 million shares, worth a combined VND593.5 billion ($31.2 million).
PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) held the position as the most-active stock, with just 1.37 million traded.
Nguyen Quang Hai, a veteran member of Hai Phong Securities Co's online investor forum, said that local investors had begun eyeing the stock exchanges again as share prices had fallen so low. The consolidation of blue chips reflected this change, Hai said, but global concerns were still having a certain impact on domestic trading.
Nguyen Quang Minh of Tai Viet Securities Company also blamed the poor domestic market performance on lingering concerns over the EU debt crisis.
Nevertheless, foreign investors continued as net buyers, although barely. Net buys on both markets dropped to just 133,710 shares, worth a combined net of VND19.3 billion ($1.01 million).
Property trader Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and commercial bakery Kinh Do (KDC) were the most-favoured of foreign investors during yesterday's session in HCM City, while they paid attention to Tien Phong Plastics (NTP) and Fortune Securities Company (PHS) on the northern market.