The surge in large-cap shares drove the national stock market up on April 7.

The stocks jumped after the Government asked the State Bank of Vietnam to reduce interest rates by 1 to 1.5 percent from between 9 and 11 percent for medium-term and long-term loans, which would encourage businesses to improve their operations.

On the Hochiminh Stock Exchange, the VN30 Index, tracking the 30 largest shares by market value and liquidity, rose by 0.87 percent to end at 577.69 points. The basket saw advancing stocks heavily outnumbering the losing stocks by 24 to one, while five others remained flat.

As a result, the VN-Index was up 0.95 percent and closed at 548.11 points. On the market, advancing codes nearly tripled, compared to the declining ones by 160 to 56 and 92 others remained unchanged.

The market's trading volume jumped by 34.7 percent to 97 million shares, worth 1.61 trillion VND (76.8 million USD).

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX30 Index increased by 1.17 percent to finish at 155.1 points. The advancing stocks in the northern market also heavily outnumbered the losing ones by 21 to two. Six others remained flat and one did not trade on the market.

Large-cap shares, such as KLF Investment JSC (KLF), rose to become the most active stock, with more than 10 million shares being traded. Its price increased by 5.81 percent to 9,100 VND.

As a result, the HNX-Index rose by 0.82 percent to finish at 82.33 points. Advancing stocks were double the number of losing ones at 133 to 60, while 170 stayed flat.
The market traded a total 40.3 million shares, showing an increase of 31 percent. However, its trading value fell by 3 percent to 423 billion VND (20.1 million USD).

However, foreign investors turned into net sellers with a net selling value of 48 billion VND (2.28 million USD) on the southern bourse and a net selling value of 6 billion VND (285,700 USD) in Hanoi.-VNA