Shares remained in uptrend on the two exchanges on the afternoon of May 7 after the central bank depreciated the local dong by another 1 percent.

The State Bank of Vietnam decided to lift the inter-bank average foreign exchange rate between the Vietnamese dong and US dollar from 21,458 VND to 21,673 VND per dollar.

On the Hochiminh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index added 0.67 percent to close the session at 552.98 points.

The VN30, which tracks the top 30 shares by market value and liquidity, also grew 0.52 percent to end at 582.40 points.

According to Nguyen Van Dung, Chairman of Tan Viet Securities Co, the hike in the foreign-exchange rate received positive market reaction compared to the negative impacts of previous rises.

"A few years ago, the stock market used to tumble when the central bank adjusted the foreign exchange rate, but this time, many shares still climbed after the information," Dung told the baodautu.vn.

He said the previous adjustments often occurred when the macro-economic condition was weak, but this time the economic state was recovering.

The market breadth was good as losers outnumbered gainers by 122-81 while another 93 stocks closed unchanged.

Liquidity declined, however, with both market volume and value dropping 20 percent compared with the previous session, totalling more than 70 million shares worth nearly 1.06 trillion VND (49.1 million USD).

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index increased 0.7 percent to finish the day at 79.90 points with 122 shares climbing, 79 diving and 160 closing flat.

The HNX 30 Index, which tracks the 30 stocks with the highest liquidity, added 0.91 percent to settle at 150.71 points.

However, liquidity remained the concern when the market volume and value continued to decrease by another 30 percent from the previous session, reaching just 35 million shares worth nearly 388.5 billion VND (18 million USD).

The foreign sector returned as net buyers in the two markets, picking up shares worth a combined 121 billion VND (5.6 million USD).-VNA