With four declining sessions out of five last week, leading indices on both national stock exchanges fell sharply – despite improved volumes as some investors began to seek shares at bargain-basement prices.


On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index lost 3.43 per cent of its value from the previous week's close to end the session last Friday at 441.60 points. The average value of trades rose 27 per cent over the previous week, however, to over VND841.7 billion (US$42.1 million), on an average volume per session of about 34.2 million shares.
PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) made the largest gains in value on the week, advancing by 9.5 per cent over five sessions, while stainless steel producer Son Ha International Corp (SHI) was the biggest loser, plummeting by 21.8 per cent.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index dropped by 9.91 per cent from the previous Friday to close at 101.62 points. Average daily trading value increased by 12 per cent to VND480.1 billion ($24 million), with almost 27 million shares changing hands per session.
Lam Dong Foodstuffs Co (VDL) rose 21.2 per cent last week to become the leading gainer on the Ha Noi bourse, while Vinaconex Advanced Compound Stone (VCS) was the biggest loser, dropping by 25.4 per cent.
Financial analysts said soaring gold and US dollar prices, as well as hikes in interest rates, helped drive the market down last week.
On Tuesday, domestic gold prices set a new record of VND38.8 million ($1,805) per tael and the US dollar skyrocketed on the black market to a record of VND21,500 per dollar. (A tael is equivalent to 1.2 ounces). The State Bank of Viet Nam's decision to allow further gold imports helped cool gold prices to around VND36 million per tael by the end of the week.
In Viet Nam, the US dollar and gold were both popular means of savings and payment, as well as investment, and people generally kept an eye on their value and were ready to shift assets into safer or more profitable forms, commented independent analyst Nguyen Viet Hung.
The VN-Index had declined 12 per cent since the beginning of this year and the HNX-Index 40 per cent, Hung noted, but gold prices had climbed 27 per cent and the US dollar over 10 per cent during the same period.
While the State Bank's decision last week to increase the prime rate and pump additional capital into the banking system had helped calm the forex market, these measures had also pushed up lending interest rates, a factor likely to cause difficulties for enterprises seeking loans to finance production, Hung said, adding that the result was likely to be a negative impact on the bottom lines of listed companies.
Foreign investors continued to be net buyers on both bourses last week, picking up 9.4 million shares worth VND352.4 billion ($17.6 million), but the overall value of their buys dropped 40 per cent in HCM City and 66 per cent in Ha Noi, compared to the previous week's figures.
This week, the first information about November inflation rates is expected to have a heavy impact on the markets.
"But improved market volumes can be seen as a positive signal for the market this week as investors have begun to seek cheap, sound shares," said Nguyen Quang Minh, an analyst at a Ha Noi-based financial information services company.