Shares finished higher on March 13 on both bourses as Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a project to develop a State-controlled centralised derivatives market.

On the Ho Chi Minh City Exchange, for the seventh day in a row, the VN-Index rose nearly 0.88 percent to finish at 595.22 points on March 13, the highest level recorded since October 2009.

The trading value was 25 percent lower than March 12, at 2.3 trillion VND (109.5 million USD) on the exchange of more than 133.7 million shares.

The billboard was predominantly green with 154 codes adding value, while doubling losers.

Vinamilk (VNM) was the market's highlight on March 13 with a gain of 5,000 VND (0.23 USD), as much as 3.5 percent per share to close at 146,000 VND (6.9 USD).

VNM was the major contributor to the benchmark indices' gains, besides other blue chips, due to the soaring profit-taking pressure on speculative stocks.

As more than two-thirds of the bourse's 30 largest stocks by capitalisation and liquidity advanced, the VN30-Index added 0.81 percent to end the day at 669.21 points.

Gains were also registered by blue chips, such as Saigon Securities (SSI) seen rising at 5 percent, Vietcombank (VCB) at 2 percent, HCM City Infrastructure Development (CII) at 2.7 percent, and Masan Group (MSN) 0.5 percent. The Hoa Sen Group (HSG) also rose 0.9 percent higher.

On March 13, only three codes that closed lower were the Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Kinh Do Corporation (KDC), and PetroVietnam Low Pressure Gas Distribution Corporation (PGD), and six closed at their reference prices.

Shares of the Tan Tao Group (ITA) continued to attract investors with roughly 14.2 million shares successfully changing hands on March 13, with a gain of 4.65 percent to close at 9,000 VND (0.42 USD) per share.

Hanoi shares rebounded from the previous day’s drop as the HNX-Index added 0.98 points, or as much as 1.18 percent, to finish at 84.15 points.

Composed of stocks with a minimum free float rate of 5 percent, the HNXFF-Index advanced 1.39 percent to end at 84.07 points.

With more than 91 million shares traded, the trading value reached 879 billion VND (41.8 million USD).

The HNX30-Index, comprising the top 30 shares, ended at 169.14 points, rising 1.78 percent.

Transactions of the PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corporation (PVX) boomed on March 12 as the stock soared 10 percent to end at its ceiling price of 5,500 VND (0.26 USD) with more than 17 million shares traded, following the decision on withdrawing capitals out of its listed members.

Foreign investors returned to be net sellers on March 13 after net buying on the previous day, which could be a matter of concern, according to FPT Securities.

The 600-point level will be challenging, and investors should keep a close watch on the market.-VNA