Foreign buying of several blue chips helped boost the VN-Index on HCM City's exchange yesterday by 0.46 per cent to close at 385.10 points.

Foreign money poured into real estate company Tan Tao Investment Industry (ITA) and confectionery giant Kinh Do Corp (KDC), boosting the two shares to their ceiling prices.
Investors from abroad bought more than 1 million ITA shares out of a total of 2.78 million shares traded on the bourse yesterday, lifting ITA to VND4,000 a share. They also purchased nearly 542,000 KDC shares at VND40,500 (US$1.94) a share through negotiations, while a total of another 400,000 shares were exchanged directly on the bourse.

ITA remained the most active code by the end of yesterday's session.

Overall, foreign investors concluded as net buyers on the southern bourse, responsible for a net buy of VND13.47 billion ($644,500) worth of shares.

Among gainers yesterday, shares in the Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp (REE) almost hit the ceiling price following news on Monday that REE will issue VND558 billion ($26.7 million) worth of convertible bonds to Platinum Victory Pte Ltd. The subsidiary of Singapore's giant auto distributor and retailer Jardine Cycle and Carriage Ltd will receive a conversion price of VND22,000 a share ($1.05).

REE jumped 4.2 per cent yesterday to VND15,000 ($0.72) a share.

The VN30 tracking the top 30 shares on the bourse was up 0.61 per cent to stand at 455.10 points.

Trading value was down 11 per cent from a day earlier, however, totalling just VND336.1 billion ($16.1 million).

Stocks may continue to extend today's gains, particularly after HCM City yesterday reported that the CPI (consumer price index) this month inched up by just 0.1 per cent, the lowest growth in November in four years, according to analysts at FPT Securities Co.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also added 0.87 per cent to finish yesterday at 51.90 points, but trading value was still modest, reaching just VND124.5 billion ($6 million).
Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB) was still the most active code by the end of yesterday's session with more than 4.7 million shares changing hands, climbing 2 per cent to VND5,100 a share.