Heavy gains by blue chips helped lift the VN-Index on March 7 to a close of 468.22 points, a gain of nearly 2 percent over previous day's level.
However, the value of trades on the HCM Stock Exchange continued to slump, dropping 26 percent to just 547 billion VND (26 million USD), on a volume of 23.6 million shares.
Advancers outnumbered decliners by 134-73, with most of the leading shares by capitalisation posting gains. Insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Phu My Fertilisers (DPM), conglomerate Masan Group (MSN) and resort developer VinpearLand (VPL) all hit their ceiling prices, while Vietinbank (CTG) closed up 3.2 percent, PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) up 2 percent, Vietcombank (VCB) up 1.9 percent, and Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) up 1.6 percent.
Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) continued as the most-active stock during the session. With 1.7 million shares traded, it was the code to rack up a volume in excess of a million. SSI closed up 0.9 percent to 22,500 VND.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index dropped by about 0.3 percent to close at 90.65 points, even as advancers edged out decliners by 145-123.
Market volume rose by over 50 percent to 37.2 million shares, worth around 465 billion VND (22.1 million USD), largely due to explosive trading in share of Kim Long Securities (KLS). KLS, with 9.5 million shares changing hands, became the most heavily traded stock nationwide but plunged by 5.6 percent to close at just 10,100 VND per share.
Concerns over troubles within Kim Long Securities Co as well as the Government's tighter monetary policies continued to impede the flow of capital into the markets, said the head of the business department at SME Securities Co, Le Van Long.
Technical indicators showed that share prices have fallen too deeply for a consolidation, Long said.
While it was possible that the markets would see some technical rallies, pushing the VN-Index into the 470-475 range, "it's hard to foresee a real recovery," he added, suggesting that investors with available capital could safely buy in if the Index fell as low as 440-450, but recommending that stocks not be allowed to exceed 50 percent of an investment portfolio.
Foreign investors concluded the day on March 7 as net sellers on both the HCM City and Hanoi markets, unloading a combined 687,500 shares, worth a net of 9.5 billion VND (441,860 USD)./.
