Investors monitor stock transactions (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese shares rose on December 17 for a third day on investor expectations that the market will likely continue this week's gains for the rest of this year after the US central bank raised interest rates for the first time in nine years.
The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange gained 0.8 percent to close at 577.11 points and the HNX Index on the Hanoi Stock Exchange inched up 0.2 percent to end at 79.33 points.
The two indices have risen 2.6 percent and 0.7 percent over the last three days, respectively.
The December 17 gains came after the US central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, which is a good signal for the stock market, analysts told local media.
Lai Duc Long, an analyst from Phu Hung Securities (PHS), said that the rate hike has put an end to the investor uncertainty, which resulted from investor fears that they would suffer losses in stock assets if the Vietnamese dong weakens against the US dollar.
The dollar traded at the ceiling of the central bank's trading band at 22,547 dong per dollar.
Bui Nguyen Khoa, an analyst from BIDV Securities Corporation (BSC), said that the market will likely close this year in a range between 580 and 585 points, boosted by big firms such as Vietcombank, Vingroup, Bao Viet Holdings and FPT Corporation.
Among these stocks, the biggest insurance firm – Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) – surged 6.4 percent to lift the insurer sector index by 5 percent. Other insurers also made gains such as PVI Holdings (PVI), which gained 3 percent, and Bao Minh Insurance Corporation (BMI) rose 3.6 percent.
Meanwhile, the banking sector index was up 1.8 percent, led by the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), Vietinbank and Vietcombank, which gained 4.4 percent, 1.6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
Other big firms such as Vingroup and FPT Corporation, which operate in various business sectors, also lifted the market. Vingroup (VIC) gained 0.5 percent and FPT Corporation (FPT) rose 0.8 percent.
Both local exchanges traded more than 130 million shares worth VND2 trillion (92 million USD), a decrease of one-third from the previous day's trading value.-VNA
