Shares continued to climb on both of Vietnam 's stock exchanges on Aug. 18 as investor confidence improved, but market volumes and values remained low.

On the HCM Stock Exchange Aug. 18, the VN-Index surged by 2.4 percent to close at 402.89 points. However, market value decreased 40 percent from Aug. 17's session, totalling just 488 billion VND (23.5 million USD) on a volume of 31 million shares.

Advancers outnumbered decliners by 169-62.

Blue chips continued to increase, with insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) and real estate developer Vincom (VIC) all rising by 5 percent to the daily ceiling.

Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) was the most-active share on the southern exchange, with 3.75 million shares changing hands. It closed up 3.4 percent to finish at 18,500 VND per share.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost another 1.34 percent to close at 68.31 points, with gainers outpacing losers by three-to-one. However, trades slowed to 45.4 million shares, with total value of 458.6 billion VND (22 million USD).

Kim Long Securities (KLS) was again the most-active stock nationwide, with 7.9 million shares traded. It hit its ceiling price of 11,000 VND a share.

Foreign investors concluded Aug. 18 as net buyers on both exchanges, picking up over 42 billion VND (2 million USD) worth of shares./.