Foreign buys spark modest gains

Investors reawakening from a long holiday fueled a busy session on Jan. 9, with the volume of trades on the HCM Stock Exchange rising 27.2 percent over the previous session to 31.8 million shares, worth a combined 857.6 billion VND (52.4 million USD).

But independent securities analyst Nguyen Tien Dung noted that a sell-off began in this session, causing losers to outnumber gainers.

However, the VN-Index closed the session up by 0.36 percent to 522.59 points, largely due to buys by foreign investors focused again on shares of insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and conglomerate Masan Group (MSN). BVH soared to its ceiling price, while MSN closed up 4.1 percent.

Vietinbank (CTG) surprised as the most-active share on Jan. 9, with 1.9 million changing hands. CTG also reached its ceiling price, closing up 4.7 percent.

"The VN-Index passing 520 on Jan. 9 sparked some short-term greed for profit," Dung said, adding: "A correction might follow in the next few days."

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, a rally in petroleum stocks helped lift the HNX-Index by 0.68 percent to a close of 108.39 points. PetroVietnam Insurance (PVI) saw the heaviest gains, closing up 6.8 percent.

Volume was nearly double Jan. 8’s figure at 27.6 million shares, with the value of trades on the northern market reaching 543.5 billion VND (18.8 million USD). VNDirect Securities (VND) was the most-active share, with 2.3 million traded./.

Youths' efforts yield socio-economic fruits

Many activities were carried out across the nation during the Vietnam’s Youth Month, an annual festivity taking place in March to celebrate the establishment of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU), contributing to the nation’s socio-economic development, heard a conference held by the union's Central Committee in Hanoi on April 23.