Buys accelerated the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange on July 27, extending the current rally and pushing the VN-Index up another 15 points to close at 469.71, an increase of 3.3 percent.

Advancers on the southern market outnumbered decliners by 120 to 26, while trading volume doubled the previous session’s figure to reach 56.7 million shares, worth a combined 2.14 trillion VND (120.2 million USD).

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, meanwhile, the HNX-Index also advanced by 4.16 percent to end the day at 161.05. Trades totalled nearly 987 billion VND (55.4 million USD) on a volume of 27.9 million shares.

Banking shares continued to lead both markets, as Sacombank (STB) generated orders for up to 11.5 million shares, representing 19 percent of the volume on the southern bourse, while Asia Commercial Bank accounted for 23 percent of the volume on the northern exchange, with 6.5 million shares changing hands.

In HCM City on July 27, foreign investors also returned to being net buyers, picking up a net of 2.7 million shares, worth a combined 157 billion VND (8.8 million USD).

In the north, foreign investors traded only 1.6 million shares, worth a total value of 56.9 billion VND (3.2 million USD). Ngo Van Minh, an analyst with the Sai Gon-Hanoi Fund Management Co, predicted the VN-Index was on its way to 480 points this week, saying it could even spike to 520 if trading volumes remained high.

On the unlisted public company market on July 27, the UPCoM-Index closed down 1.06 percent to 74.37 points. The value of the day’s trades reached just 4.1 billion VND on a volume of 261,400 shares.

Da Nang Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Equipment gained 6.2 points, while APEC Securities led the market with about 84,400 shares traded, or 32 percent of the total volume./.