A large number of shares changed
hands in both Ho Chi Minh City
and Ha Noi Monday. Gold and dollar prices remained unchanged.



The VN-Index reversed course by
climbing up 2.93 pointsto close at 368.95. Order matching was responsible
for 9.8 million trades worth VND237 billion (US$14.3 million). With 2.7 million
shares changing hands, Sacombank (STB) had the highest volume of order
matching. Some 770,000 shares of Saigon Securities (SSI) were traded. Out of
155 listed stocks, more than 50 gained.



However, Monday’s session witnessed a drop in the number of shares traded by
foreign investors. Only 811,000 shares and treasury certificates were bought,
only one-fifth as much as the previous week. Foreign investors sold 730 units.



Ha Noi’s Hastc-Index rose by 0.08 points to close at 110.48 points. The total
volume of transactions surged to 7.16 million units worth VND160 billion
(US$9.6 million).



Gold was unchanged with a tales of SJC gold selling for VND18.75 million and
being bought at VND18.68 million.



The world gold price remained unchanged at US$906 an ounce.



The price of a dollar at jewelry stores in HCMC hovered around VND18,000, the
same as during the previous week.



Analysts credited the upward movement of the stock markets to positive news
issued by the government. At the end of last week, the government announced
that it had foreign currency reserves of over US$20.7 billion. The estimated
inflow of foreign direct investment in the first six months of the year exceeds
US$31 billion.



They also pointed out the government’s confirmation that it will not devaluate
the dong has caused a drop in gold and dollar prices on the informal market.
This policy has encouraged investors to invest in stocks again.