Ho Chi Minh City shares finished the December 26 session higher, as the VN-Index reached 506.55 points, up 0.42 percent.

Trading value on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange jumped 39.7 percent over the December 25 session to 1.37 trillion VND (64.6 million USD), as 82.9 million shares changed hands.

Meanwhile, the VN30 Index, tracking the city's 30 leading shares in terms of capitalisation and liquidity, rose more than 0.2 percent to 562.45 points.

Also, many blue chips saw increasing trading volume through the negotiation method, such as private equity group Masan (MSN) with 2 million units, financial conglomerate Ocean Group (OGC) with 6.9 million units and Vinamilk (VNM) with 248,000 units. These three stocks declined between 0.6-1.8 percent.

Property developer Tan Tao (ITA) was the most active stock in Ho Chi Minh City with nearly 10.5 million shares exchanged, edging up 1.5 percent.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the benchmark HNX-Index lost 0.15 percent to 68.10 points, while the HNX30, composed of the northern bourse's top shares, shed 0.42 percent to 128.36 points.

Trading value and volume, however, climbed 12.5 percent, compared to the previous day, to 430.4 billion VND (20.3 million USD) and 57 million shares.

PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) was the most notable stock in Hanoi on December 26, although it only closed at the reference price. Investors traded over 22 million PVX shares, accounting for 39 percent of the exchange's volume.

Foreign investors bought a net of 124.55 billion VND (5.8 million USD), rising 60.7 per cent compared to the December 25 level.

As there has not been any support due to economic information, the major impact to the domestic stock market is the cash status of investors.

"Interbank interest rates have been increasing since earlier this week, but the rise was not too large," said Bao Viet Securities Co's Tran Hai Yen.

Year-end was typically the peak in demand for money, therefore the liquidity of banks would be affected, she added.

"However, it is only a short-term change, and the overall liquidity of the system will be assured thanks to a higher funding rate than credit growth."-VNA