Nearly three quarters of shares on the two national stock exchanges advanced on May 4, lifting indices to six-month highs, with investors upbeat on corporate earnings in the first quarter.

Gains on US and other global markets, in combination with better-than-expected corporate earnings, cheered investors, bolstering the market rise, said analysts of FPT Securities Co in their daily report.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN-Index rose 1.24 per cent to close at 549.12 points. The value of the day's trades rose by 13 percent to 3.2 trillion VND (168.4 million USD), on a brisk volume of 87 million shares. Ocean Group Co (OGC) nailed down the spot as most-active share, with over 8 million traded.

Investors rushed to buy shares in anticipation of a rally, lifting both blue chips and penny stocks. Banking shares performed strongly, with Eximbank (EIB) and Sacombank (STB) reaching their ceiling prices and Vietcombank (VCB) and Vietinbank (CTG) also rising.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index closed the session at 184.31 points, an increase of 2.57 percent.
The market volume reached nearly 44.6 million shares, worth a combined 1.64 trillion VND (86.3 million USD).

Large caps such as Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Sai Gon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) Vinaconex (VGC), Kim Long Securities Co (KLS), and Bao Viet Securities Co (BVS) surged, with KLS the most heavily-traded share on a volume of 2.67 million.

The northern bourse welcomed the first day of trading for Construction Co No 6 (CT6), which closed up at 30,000 VND (1.58 USD) per share with 84,400 shares changing hands.

Foreign investors continued a buying trend, concluding yesterday's trades with a net purchase value of 150 billion VND (7.9 million USD) on both bourses.

By the end of April, over 160 companies had submitted their first-quarter financial reports to the HCM Stock Exchange, while over 60 on the Hanoi bourse had announced their results. Most reflect large profits during the quarter./.