Good tidings lift Vietnamese shares

At the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index rose by 0.28 per cent compared with the previous Friday's close, reaching 602.59 points. - Photo TNCK

However, a reduction in petrol prices and the successful sale of Government bonds worth US$1 billion on the international market helped to balance stock market sentiments and boost share prices.

The petrol reduction last November 7 marked the ninth time in a row that the price of the commodity was reduced in the last four months.

Total bids for bonds that the Vietnamese Government recently sold on the international market were nearly 11 times higher than the actual offering.

Numerous companies also provided good news last week. Investment fund Global Emerging Market pledged to invest about $80 million in property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG), boosting HAG share prices for three consecutive sessions.

Techno-Agricultural Supplying announced it has increased its charter capital nine times, the highest rate so far, to VND1.3 trillion ($61.9 million).

Meanwhile, Hung Vuong (HVG) and Minh Phu (MPC) are locked in a tight battle for the top ranking among the country's seafood exporters. HVG followed MPC by a single degree in export ranking in the first eight months of 2014, but HVG announced it would grab the top spot by 2016.

Also, Japanese investors have shown increasing interest in the Vietnamese logistics sector. Last week, Shibusawa Warehouse registered for its plan to purchase a third of total shares in Vinafco (VFC). VFC shares hit the ceiling price last Friday, making it necessary for the Japanese logistics company to spend about VND136 billion ($6.4 million) for the purchase.

In addition, several companies reported high growth in revenues and profit such as Vinamilk, PetroVietnam Technical Services and Viet Nam Electricity Construction.

At the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index rose by 0.28 per cent compared with the previous Friday's close, reaching 602.59 points. Trading value and volume averaged VND2.15 trillion ($101 million) and 121 million shares, a 15-per cent increase over that of the previous week.

The HNX-Index at the Ha Noi Stock Exchange climbed by 1.72 per cent to 89.55 points. Average trading figures per session on the northern bourse reached VND794.8 billion ($37.4 million) and 54.3 million shares, a 10-per cent increase over that of the previous week.

Investment money flowed mainly to real estate shares last week. Listed codes with the highest trading volume were mostly in real estate, including FLC Group, Kinh Bac Urban City, Sacomreal and Hoang Anh Gia Lai, as well as An Duong Thao Dien, Hoang Quan and Tan Tao.

Foreign investors continued to play the role of net buyers with a margin of VND152.8 billion ($7.2 million).

Last week, the share prices of Nam Kim Steel, paper and printing company Dong Hai Ben Tre, Transport and Chartering Corporation and PetroVietnam-Nghe An Investment jumped by 14 to 25 per cent while those of chemical company Sana WMT plunged by more than 21 per cent. These are the top gainers and loser that investors may consider trading.