Shares improved on the two exchanges by the end of January 23’s session following the information that the State Securities Commission had tightened control on illegal trading on the stock market.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange closed up 0.12 percent at 443.37 points by the end of the session. But market value continued to fall, totalling 648.9 billion VND (31 million USD), down 27 percent from the previous day's level.

More than half of the top 30 shares on the bourse advanced while only eight declined, pushing the Index up 0.14 percent to 521.92 points.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index increased 0.13 percent to finish at 59.57 points on a total turnover of 349 billion VND (16.7 million USD).

With almost 11 million shares changing hands, Sai Gon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) was again the most active stock, climbing 1.56 percent to 6,500 VND a share.-VNA