Vietnam’s shares continue rally for a third day

Investors watch share movements at APEC Securities Company (Source: VNA)

Vietnamese shares extended a rally for a third day on the two local exchanges on October 12 as global oil prices rose, boosting local energy shares.

The benchmark VN Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange rose 0.7 percent to close at 592.10 points. On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index was up 0.2 percent to finish at 80.89 points.

VNDirect Securities Corporation (VND) wrote in a daily report that it expects the VN Index to eventually rise to between 610 and 615 points.

Energy stocks rose 0.5 percent after the US benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 0.6 percent to trade at 49.93 USD a barrel, according to Reuters.

Among energy producers, large shares such as Petrovietnam Gas Corporation (GAS), Petrovietnam Drilling & Well Services (PVD) and Petrovietnam Coating Company (PVB) were among best gainers. These firms were up 0.4 percent, 1.3 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

The banking sector was up 1.3 percent. Vietcombank (VCB) was the strongest gainer among nine listed bank with a jump of 3.4 percent. The bank's improvement came after news saying it would allegedly lend the Ministry of Finance 1 billion USD at an annual interest rate of 3 to 4 percent, which may boost the bank's income in the near future.

In May, the finance ministry also sold 1 billion USD of government bonds to VCB at an annual rate of 4.8 percent.

Other financial firms such as insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) was up 6.2 percent. BVH has increased 17.6 percent in the last five days.

FLC Group (FLC) was the most active stock on the market with more than 8 million shares in trading. FLC ended flat on October 12.

The two local bourses traded more than 195 million shares or 3.58 trillion VND (159.2 million USD), an increase in value of 11 percent from last week's average data.-VNA