Nearly 300 stocks soared to their ceiling prices on Dec. 5 in surprising rallies on the nation's stock exchanges.

"The market has seen its highest growth in the past three months," said StoxPlus Financial Media Co's analyst Le Huu Quan. "Investor psychology found relief in the expectation of new Government measures to get banks to reduce their interest rates."

The domestic market management team has also projected that inflation in December could rise at a one-month rate of 0.5-0.6 percent.

"If December inflation does not exceed this limit, the Goverment will achieve its target for the year", said ACB Securities Co analyst Cao Tan Phat.

On the HCM Stock Exchange on Dec. 5, the VN-Index rose by 1.9 percent to reach 391.19 points, with 220 out of 290 listed codes posting gains.

The value of trades increased by 18 percent compared to the previous session on Dec. 2, totalling 494.4 billion VND (23.2 million USD) on a volume of nearly 35 million shares.

Many blue chips saw their prices soar to the top of the allowed daily trading range, including insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH); real estate developers Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG), Vincom (VIC) and Hoang Quan (HQC); steelmaker Hoa Phat (HPG); financial conglomerate Ocean Group (OGC); PetroVietnam Finance (PVF); industrial park developer Tan Tao (ITA); and Saigon Securities Inc (SSI). SSI was the most-active share, with around 1.85 million shares changing hands.

Of the 10 leading shares by capitalisation, only food processor Masan (MSN) and Sacombank (STB) lost value.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index closed at 63.47 points, 2.9 percent higher than Friday's close. Both value and volume improved by over 80 percent, totalling 391.3 billion VND (18.4 million USD) on a volume of over 43 million shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners by 251-48.

With more than 6.4 million shares traded, Kim Long Securities Co (KLS) became the most-active share nationwide and hit its ceiling price on the day of 10,800 VND per share.

Despite renewed optimism among domestic investors, foreign investors continued to sell off shares on both exchanges on Dec. 5, unloading a combined net of 47.7 billion VND (2.24 million USD) worth of share – 63.5 percent more than during Dec. 2's session./.