Stocks fluctuated during Apr.17's trades on both of the nation's stock exchanges but managed to close up in the final minutes of trading.
On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index added nearly 1 percent over the prior day's close to end the session at 472.84 points. Over half of 197 advancers closed up by their daily ceiling limit of 5 per cent.
Market value hit 2 trillion VND (95.2 million USD), up 47 percent over Apr.16's level, as volume surpassed 118 million shares.
The VN30 Index edged up 0.9 percent to close at 544.13 points, as slowing demand towards the end of the day caused many blue chips to dip into the red, with real estate developer Khang Dien House (KDH) and financial conglomerate Ocean Group (OGC) plunged to their floor prices.
Information appeared on Apr.17 that Southern Bank will ask its shareholders for approval to list the bank's shares on the HCM Stock Exchange.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, profit-taking caused the HNX-Index to slide by around 0.6 percent before concluding the session at 79.91. The value of trades jumped 20 percent to 1.2 trillion VND (57 millionUSD) on a volume of 106 million shares.
Habubank (HBB) was the most-active share with over 11 million changing hands. It retreated by 2.8 percent, ending trades at 7,000 VND per share.
"Although trading could be mixed with some correction at technical resistance levels, we maintain a positive view about market trends," Bao Viet Securities Co analyst Nguyen Xuan Binh wrote in a note.
Rumours that this month's inflation rate will be lower than last month's had prompted new hopes that interest rates will further decline, commented Kim Eng Securities Co analysts.
Following the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, HDBank has reduced lending rates by up to 2 percent for individual customers.
According to the State Bank of Vietnam , credit at commercial banks as of last month had declined by 1.96 percent since the end of last year. Loans to non-encouraged sectors decreased from 11.02 percent of overall lending by the end of last year to 10.77 percent in late February.-VNA
