The VN-Index on May 21 surprisingly surpassed the psychological barrier of 500 points as investors saw increasingly active trading on both national stock markets.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index maintained the uptrend towards the end of the afternoon, finishing the day's session at 500.18 points, up 1.61 percent compared to the previous session.

Blue chips continued the rising momentum as 23 of the 30 largest shares by market capitalisation and liquidity advanced, helping lift the VN30 up 1.37 percent to 566.46 points.

Investors increased their buys strongly during the day despite the lack of major news that may lift markets.
The most notable share on May 21 was technology firm FPT Corp (FPT), which saw a record trading of 1.8 million shares. Although no special news was released, the share hit the ceiling at 42,000 VND (2 USD).

Both market volume and value surged, totalling nearly 89 million shares, worth 1.47 trillion VND (70 million USD), up 80 percent in volume and 70 percent in value over the previous session.

Refrigeration Electrical Engineering (REE) and Tan Tao Investment Industry (ITA) were the two most active codes on the southern bourse. Each had more than 5 million shares traded. REE climbed 5.2 percent at a value of 24,100 VND (1.15 USD) while ITA rose 1.5 percent to 6,900 VND.

On the Hanoi exchange, the HNX-Index posted a growth of 0.97 percent to close at 61.63 points by the end of the session.

Trading volume increased over the previous day's level, reaching nearly 55 million shares worth 429.4 billion VND (20.4 million USD). Sai Gon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) was again the most active code with more than nine million shares changing hands, rising 1.5 percent to reach 7,000 VND a share.-VNA