Vietnam’s shares led up by banks

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese shares made gains on December 15 on both local exchanges, led by banks and energy firms.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange rose 1 percent to close at 568 points and the HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange inched up 0.2 percent to end at 78.9 points.

The energy sector index gained 1.3 percent as local energy firms benefited from a rebound of global oil prices. The US benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) bounced off a seven -year low, rising 1.9 percent to 36.31 USD a barrel.

The biggest Vietnamese energy firms rose as PetroVietnam Gas Corporation (GAS) added 1.9 percent, fuel dealer Petrolimex Gas Corporation (PGC) gained 0.7 percent and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PVD) jumped 3.3 percent.

The stock market also received a strong boost from the banking sector, whose index rose 1.5 percent. The biggest banks on the market Vietcombank (VCB) surged 3.9 percent and Vietinbank (CTG) increased by 2.8 percent.

On December 15, local joint-stock banks like Vietcombank and Vietinbank raised their buying price of the Vietnamese dong/US dollar rate by 40-42 VND while their selling rate remained at the highest set by Vietnam's central bank, 22,547 VND per dollar.

Analysts said a possible interest rate hike made by the US central bank could weaken the dong further against the dollar.

Other stocks such as Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI), FLC Group (FLC) and Tan Tao Investment Industrial JSC also rose after the German investment firm Market Vector Index Solutions (MVIS) on late December 14 announced it would increase ownership in 14 Vietnamese companies, including the ones mentioned above.

As a result, SSI gained 0.8 percent, FLC jumped 2.5 percent and Tan Tao Investment Industrial JSC (ITA) gained 1.8 percent.

Both local exchanges traded nearly 175 million shares worth 2.65 trillion VND (118 million USD), an increase of 7 percent from December 14.-VNA