Shares rallied during March 20’s session, reacting positively to the decreasing consumer price index (CPI) in Ho Chi Minh City in March.

CPI in the city fell 0.29 percent compared to last month, therefore the index this month has increased only 1.15 percent since the beginning of the year.

The index in the southern province of Long An also dropped 0.07 percent over February. The CPI for Hanoi is then expected to decline.

Meanwhile, interest rates tend to fall. Vietcombank on March 20 reduced its deposit rate for a three-month term from 8 to 7.5 percent and over 12-month term from 10.5 to 9.5 percent. In comparison with other banks, Vietcombank had the lowest deposit rates.

The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange added 1.37 percent, reaching 487.04 points.

The VN30, composed of the southern bourse’s 30 leading shares, also gained 0.7 percent to 551.15 points. Over 20 of the blue chips it tracks rebounded, while only five of the shares retreated, including insurer Bao Viet (BVH), Becamex Infrastructure (IJC), commercial baker Kinh Do (KDC), food processor Bourbon Tay Ninh (SBT) and Sacombank (STB).

Overall, the number of advancers on the entire exchange doubled that of decliners.

Trading value jumped 74.5 percent over March 19’s session to more than 1 trillion VND (47.6 million USD) as trading value hit 52.3 million shares.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index closed at 61.54 points, a 0.74 percent increase compared to the previous day. Gainers outnumbered losers by 126-73.

Trading, however, remained sluggish, improving slightly to 35 million shares and 286 billion VND (13.6 million USD).

The HNX30, which represents the exchange’s top shares, put on 0.67 percent to 118.29 points.

Foreign investors narrowed their scale of buying to a net value of just 1.7 billion VND (80,900 USD) in HCM City , while the value in Hanoi reached 11 billion VND (523,800 USD).-VNA