Rising banking and financial stocks again helped sustain indices on both national stock exchanges on June 29.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index edged up 0.68 percent to close Tuesday's session at 510.71 points. Trading volume fell slightly, however, to over 46 million shares, worth a combined 91.44 trillion VND (76.2 million USD).

Advancers outnumbered decliners by 112-93, with Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) claiming the position as the most-active share with 1.6 million changing hands.

Bank and financial shares led the market rise, with Vietinbank (CTG), Eximbank (EIB), Sacombank (STB), Sai Gon Housing Commercial Bank (SHB), PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) and Vietcombank (VCB) all advancing. VCB hit its ceiling price due to heavy buys by foreign investors.

VNDirect Securities Co analyst Nguyen Cuong said investment funds were buying into blue chips in the closing weeks of this month before making their semi-annual net asset value reports.

"We should watch the development of blue chips after June 30 to confirm whether capital investment really returns," Cuong said.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.11 percent on June 29 to end the session at 161.33 points. Trading volume rose 19 percent to nearly 44.4 million shares, worth a total of 1.29 trillion VND (68.3 million USD).

But banks and financial shares also saved the northern market from an overall decline on the day, with PetroVietnam Insurance (PVI), Bao Viet Securities (BVS), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Sai Gon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) all posting gains.

PetroVietnam Construction (PVX), still the most-active share with over 2.3 million traded, also advanced 0.35 percent to close at 30,900 VND (1.63 USD).

Shares of Ha Nam Import Export Co (MIH) saw their first day of listing, closed up 16 percent on the day to 48,600 VND (2.57 USD) with 45,000 shares traded.

Nguyen Thanh Binh, head of analysis for Asia Pacific Securities Co, said the pledge by banks to cut lending interest rates, expected at 12-12.5 percent per year, continued to cheer investors, leading to the a second rising session on both bourses.

However, Binh said, such impact would not last long and was unlikely to spur new flows of investment into the stock market.

"But lowering interest rates is a positive move," Binh said, "making capital sources more profuse."

Foreign investors continued to be net buyers on the HCM City market but net sellers on the Hanoi market.

They were responsible for a net purchase of 101 billion VND (5.3 million USD) worth of shares on the southern bourse and a net sale of 4.6 billion VND (243,386 USD) in the north./.