Trading volume on the HCM Stock Exchange on August 31 leapt by 64 percent over August 30's session to a total of 54.2 million shares, helping lift the VN-Index to close at 455.08 points, a gain of 2.37 percent on the day.

The value of August 31's trade on the HCM City bourse rose back above the 1 trillion VND-level to 1.46 trillion VND (74.8 million USD).

Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) claimed the position as most-active share during the session, responsible for 3.35 million trades. SSI reached its ceiling price, closing up 4.87 percent to 28,000 VND per share.

Financial shares in general led the market increase, gaining 4.9 percent across the board. Petroleum shares followed, with an overall gain of 4.6 percent, while communications stocks also performed strongly, picking up 3.9 percent.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also rose by 2.8 percent to close at 128.40 points, with the volume of trades reaching 45.8 million shares – double August 30's figure.

The value of trades on the northern bourse reached 1 trillion VND (51.3 million USD), with PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) leading trades on a volume of 9.7 million shares.

Foreign investors picked up a net of 4.5 million shares on both exchanges, worth a total of 207 billion VND (10.6 million USD). Their buy-in focused mostly on blue chips, including shares of real estate developers Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) and Hoa Phat Group (HAG), as well as of Tan Tao Industrial Park Investment &Development (ITA).

VN&Index on August 30 quoted a representative from the State Bank that there would be some changes in the provisions of Circular No13 which sets stricter capital adequacy requirements for banks, although the deadline would not be extended./.