The HCM Stock Exchange on February 24 saw increased trading, but the VN-Index nevertheless slid by another 0.34 percent to a close of 494.59 points, with over 60 percent of codes losing value over the course of the session. Meanwhile, shares rebounded on the Hanoi market.

The value of the day’s trades rose by 10 percent to reach 1.2 trillion VND (63 million USD) while overall trading volume increased to nearly 26.4 million shares.

The risk of inflation reigniting in March continued to colour investor sentiment on February 24.

Vu Dinh Anh, deputy head of the Market and Price Research Institute, said the recent depreciation of the Vietnamese dong and this week’s announcement of proposed higher petrol prices and electricity rates, the latter effective March 1, would hinder the Government’s effort to keep inflation this year at within 7 percent.

“CPI in March is important and sensitive, as it tends to determine the overall inflation rate for the year,” Anh said. If one-month inflation in March hit 0.5-1 percent, the year’s inflation rate was likely to reach double-digit levels, he said.

The market could see some adjustment in official monetary policy in an effort to curb inflation, said Vincom Securities Co analysts in a market forecast.

Although still wary and cautious, investors also become calmer on Feb. 24 after the Feb. 23 heavily sagging session and raised their buys, cushioning the fall of the VN-Index on Feb. 24, wrote FPT Securities Co analysts in a daily report.

“Share supply still outweighed demand,” it wrote. “However, share purchases increased considerably up to the closing bell of the session, concentrating on blue chips such as Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), Sacombank (STB) and Vietcombank (VCB).”

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, meanwhile, the HNX-Index rebounded by 0.75 percent to close at 162.77. Trading value rose by nearly 14 percent over Feb. 23’s level, totalling 374.6 billion VND (19.7 million USD) on a volume of 11.7 million shares.

Over 55 percent of codes on the northern bourse posted gains, while Kim Long Securities Co (KLS) led trading with a volume of 2.55 million shares.

Foreign investors were net sellers on both bourses on Feb. 24, unloading a net of just under 4.8 billion VND (252,631 USD)./.