VN-Index continued its upswinging on Monday but by a slowed 0.29 per cent, ending the day at 513.39 points. Meanwhile, trades on the HCM City Stock Exchange continued to pick up steam, reaching a total value of VND2 trillion (US$105.3 million) on a volume of over 45 million shares.
Cable and Telecommunication Materials (SAM) made the most impressive showing, responsible for 2.2 million trades and gaining 3.3 per cent on the day to close at VND31,000 per share.
The company will hold its annual shareholders' meeting at the end of this month, when shareholders will vote on a decision to pay a 25-per-cent cash dividend and a 5-per-cent dividend in shares on last year's profits.
Tong Minh Tuan, Deputy Head of analysis at BIDV Securities Company, said that this week's rally reflected growing investor interest in the market.
"The increasing excitement is the most supportive factor for market moves, and it is based on the expectation of increased capital flows into securities," said Tuan, suggesting that concerns over inflation had cooled on reports that food prices had begun to stabilise with the passing of the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.
The State Bank of Viet Nam's monetary policies had also helped ease investor concerns over bank liquidity and tight credit, Tuan said.
Fiachra Mac Cana, head of research for HCM City Securities Company, had a positive outlook in the medium-term on the stock market. "We feel there are increasing signals that March CPI will come in well below the February number, although we still have several weeks to run."
The company said that inflationary pressures were peaking and that, once it saw sustained evidence of a month-on-month decline, the State Bank could well start to ease some aspects of monetary policy by allowing more liquidity to flow into the banking system.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange yesterday, the HNX-Index also gained 1.07 per cent to close at 170.16. Volume reached 31.6 million shares, worth a total of VND1.1 trillion ($57.9 million). Kim Long Securities Company (KLS) continued to see heavy activity, accounting for a whopping 6.1 million shares traded.
Foreign investors yesterday were net sellers on both exchanges by a net volume of 194,100 shares.