The sinking HCM City stock market tread water on Feb. 12, ending the day off just 0.05 percent to close at 276.09 points.


Many analysts believed that Feb. 11’s rally on Wall
Street, in response to the US Congress’ compromise on a 789 billion USD
economic stimulus bill, saved the domestic market from plunging further.


Trading volume rose to 7.8 million shares, worth 159.89 billion VND (9.1 million USD).


Refrigeration, Electrical and Engineering (REE) became
the most-active share, with 1.25 million traded, followed by Sacombank
(STB) with 477,560.


Kim Eng Securities analyst Ken Tai Cheeming said that
the domestic exchange has not yet signalled any short-term recovery. He
noted that exports in January fell 24.2 percent from the corresponding
month last year, and that there was a lower-than-expected exchange rate
between the Vietnam dong and US dollar in comparison with the
non-deliverable forward rate.


In Hanoi, the HASTC-Index also stood pat, ending the
day off a mere 0.09 percent at 91.38 points. Trading volume was
moderate, at 2.8 million shares worth 56.31 billion VND (3.2 million
USD).


The most-active share was Asia Commercial Bank (ACB),
with a sluggish volume of 333,600 shares. Runner-up was reinsurer
Vinare (VNR) with 254,700 shares traded.