The VN-Index yesterday increased 0.91 per cent to close at 624.1 points, as most major shares gained value on the HCM City Stock Exchange.

Trading volume continued to improve to nearly 93 million shares, worth a combined VND4.9 trillion (US$272.2 million). Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) led trading with nearly 6 million shares changing hands, representing 6.5 per cent of the total volume.

Among blue chips, SSI, Refrigeration & Electrical Engineering (REE), Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Cables and Telecom Materials (SAM) all hit the ceiling of their regulated trading bands.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index closed largely unchanged at 218.38.

The value of the day’s trades on the northern bourse reached more than VND3 trillion ($166.7 million), as trading volume rose 14 per cent from the previous session’s figure to 65.5 million shares.

Shares of securities firms all rose, with Bao Viet Securities (BVS) hitting its ceiling price. Construction shares were also active, as PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) and Vinaconex Group (VCG) each generated orders for around 5.2 million shares.

Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) continued as the most active share on the Ha Noi market, with 6.2 million shares changing hands.

A more positive economic outlook and the possibility of the Government implementing new post-crisis policies, raised during this week’s National Assembly session, consolidated investor confidence in market growth prospects, said FPT Securities Co analysts, adding that news about corporate earnings and bonus shares continued to be strong motivator for investors.

But Dau tu Chung khoan (Securities Investment) quoted Kenanga Securities Co analyst Pham Kinh Luan as saying that investors were over-confident about current market conditions.

Luan said that the process of economic recovery still posed many challenges. The world import-export structure was changing as part of a re-balancing world economy, he said, with US enterprises boosting exports and Chinese firms paying more attention to their domestic markets.

This would be a disadvantage to the domestic economy, which was largely driven by exports, he said.

"The change forces enterprises to adjust business strategies, and during this process, firms will face more risks," Luan said. "Things are not all as good as investors expect."

Many countries were still maintaining economic stimulus policies, but most governments were thinking of roadmaps to back out from those policies, he said. Not all companies would be able to stand firm without government support.

He also warned that, domestically, many listed firms had posted better earnings than targeted, but investors should note that company targets were deliberately set low last year when the economy was struggling.

In HCM City yesterday, foreign investors finished the day as net sellers of 162,500 shares, worth a net of about VND35 billion ($1.94 million). In Ha Noi, they were net buyers of 196,900 shares, with a net value of VND16.2 billion ($900,000).