The
VN-Index dropped to nearly 800 points in the first four trading
sessions of the Year of the Rat after recording consecutive gains prior
to the Lunar New Year holiday, drawing different opinions from experts
about the development of the market.

After gaining nearly 100
points over six consecutive trading sessions in late January, the
VN-Index at the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange has fallen by 44 points to
finish at 816.03 points on February 15.

According to Trinh
Viet Cuong, Director of the Asia Vantage Global investment fund of
Japan , the decrease of the VN-Index will help draw capital from the
real estate market into the securities market in the coming time.

Many
experts said that the price-earnings (P/E) ratio and the Earnings Per
Shares (EPS) (the portion of a company’s profit allocated to each
outstanding share of common stock) are at reasonable levels.

According
to Nguyen Trung Kien, an expert from the Viet Quoc Securities Joint
Stock Company, shares are being traded at their real value.

Meanwhile,
Head of the Consultancy Department of the Vina Securities Company Hoang
Vu Binh said that the trend for the VN-Index was to return to the level
in early 2007; however, the traded volume was much lower, making it
difficult to forecast the market’s development.

The Me Kong
Securities Company said in its latest report that the securities market
in 2008 is still attractive to investors with the highest rate of
profits in the region.

The company’s director Cheah King Yoong believed that the VN-Index would reach 1,140 points this year.