Shares advanced on the nation's stock exchanges on Sept. 28 as the central bank's final decision on Circular No 13 helped settle investor psychology.

The State Bank of Vietnam's decision, issued late Monday, allows banks to lend 25 percent of their non-term deposits and count State Treasury and loans from other credit institutions of terms of three months or longer as part of their reserves for lending.

The decision is expected to help ease the capital crunch that banks feared due to Circular No 13's stricter capital adequacy requirements, which will take effect on Friday as previously announced.

The central bank on Sept. 28 also decided to keep the prime interest rate at 8 percent for an 11th consecutive month.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index closed up 1.1 percent to 455.13 points. Market value rose by 10 percent over Monday's session to slightly over 1 trillion VND (53.8 million USD) on a volume of almost 39 million shares.

Advancers outnumbered decliners by 150-57, with Sacombank (STB) the most-active share with over 3 million changing hands. STB rose for a second day and closed up 1.2 percent to 17,000 VND (0.87 USD) per share.

Of the 10 leading shares by capitalisation, nine posted gains, with insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and property developer Vincom (VIC) rising to their ceiling price.

Ha Thanh Securities Co's head of analysis and investment, Tran Van Don, said the impacts of Circular No 13 had dissipated and the market was unlikely to react dramatically.

Many investors remained watchful, Don said, noting the modest increase in trading volume and value on Sept. 28.

He predicted that rising inflation would cause banks difficulties in lowering interest rates, putting further pressure on the markets.

Duong Hong Ha, chief analyst of Tri Viet Securities Co, agreed the domestic stock market was unlikely to see any explosive development in light of rising inflation, high interest rates and a large volume of new shares to list by year's end.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index advanced on Sept. 28 by a modest 0.18 percent to close at 130.17 points. Volume hit 34.6 million shares worth 981.6 billion VND (50.3 million USD) – an increase by 39.5 percent in volume and nearly 60 percent in value – while gainers outnumbered losers by 203-72. /.