[table]


The
stock market came close to grinding to a halt last week, as both the
HCM City and Hanoi exchanges saw shriveling volumes and shrinking
indices.



[table]







[/table]On the
HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index began the week on Monday by
dipping below the psychological barrier of 500 points to close at
492.04. The downtrend continued throughout the week, with the Index
falling to 460.04 at the end of the day on Friday.


The market saw only one or
two gainers per day, if any, with most shares plunging to their floor
prices and even greater damage limited only by the tight daily trading
band of 2%.


Trading volumes were
abysmal, with total volume for the week a sluggish 15.6mil shares, only
half of the previous week's figure. Foreign investors accounted for
about 4.7mil of the total.


Market turnover for the week reached only VND658bil (US$41mil).


Friday saw some recovery in
volumes, with some renewed foreign investor interest, but it wasn't
enough to stem the tenth straight session declines in the VN-Index, a
ten-day total loss of 62.32 points or 13.42%.


Among codes with the
highest trading volumes for the week, Phu My Fertilisers (DPM) led with
nearly four million shares traded. No other codes saw volumes in excess
of one million. Following DPM as most-active share was Sacombank (STB)
with some 684,000 shares traded.


By mid-week, investors were
talking openly of a possible market freeze, fueled by skittish domestic
investors and global economic problems, including soaring oil prices
and fears of high inflation and slower economic growth. Many seemed
thirsty for fast measures from authorities.


The director of the State
Securities Commission's Market Management Department, Nguyen Son, said
on Friday, without disclosing further details, that the Government
would make policy decisions within the next few days.


According to Viet Nam
Association of Financial Investors general secretary Nguyen Hoang Hai,
investor transactions played an important role in stimulating stock
market liquidity, and liquidity was the most important factor in
helping the market develop stably.


But the market was being
greatly affected by investor psychology, said financial analyst Nguyen
Quang A, a former chairman of VPBank.


"The liquidity of the stock
market has decline for the past three months although shares prices
have become cheap and far below their real values," said Hai. "To
recover market liquidity is to restore market stability. This will
require strong measures to restore investor confidence and increase
demand for shares."


In the northern market, the
HASTC-Index lost a total 14.49 points, or 9.4%, on the week to close
Friday at 139.74. Trading turnover was VND217.31bil ($13.6mil) on a
volume of about 6,7mil shares.


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