Vietnamese stock markets close stronger

Vietnamese stocks finished the week on a strong buying binge Friday that prompted a jump on both the Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi indexes.

HCMC’s VN-Index gained 19.59 points, or 1.92 percent to close at 1039.63. And Hanoi’s HASTC increased 4.41 points, or 1.33 percent to close at 335.48.

There were 62 gainers and 19 losers out of the 107 stocks listed in HCMC.

Investors bid for 9.82 million shares, up 41 percent over Thursday supply fell by 23 percent to 7.2 million shares.

The bourse closed after 4.3 million shares changed hands for VND644 billion (US$29.7 million), up 15 percent and 5.7 percent respectively over Thursday.

Many blue chips were among the gainers – FPT, STB, SJS, VIP and KHA – all of which hit the 5 percent limit.

STB took the market lead in terms of both liquidity and trading value with 981,410 shares traded for VND144 billion.

Eleven big corporations including STB, REE, PPC, PVD and FPT made up 65 percent of the market’s total trading volume.

Of the two mutual funds, PRUBF1 stood still at VND13,900 while VFMVF1 gained nearly 3 percent to close at VND33,900.

Foreign investors remained active players despite their low buying volume. They invested VND123 billion, down 49 percent, in 827,110 shares. They focused their buys on heavyweights like VSH, PPC, PVD and VIP.

Up the north, the Hanoi market saw trading volume and turnover up by 40 percent and 50 percent respectively to 1.3 million shares and VND183 billion.