Shares sizzle on investor optimism

Hanoi (VNA) - Investor optimism, buoyed by a rallying Wall Street and Chinese
economic data, contributed to gains on the Ho Chi Minh stock market on April 16,
with the VN-Index recovering from the previous day's profit-taking to close at
343.88 - a 1.35 percent increase.

The day's trading volume was heavy, with 41.67 million shares changing hands for a
combined value of 1.16 trillion VND (65.4 million USD).

Sacombank (STB) was easily the most-heavily traded share, accounting for 16.78
percent of the market's total value on April 16, with 8.2 million shares traded,
worth 192.36 billion VND.

The market was experiencing hot growth due to the optimism of local investors for
economic recovery, suggested John Nolan, an analyst with a HCM City-based fund
management company.

"The Government's stimulus package has begun showing success," he said.

Nolan said investors should be careful and should absolutely not pour all of their
capital into securities when they see this channel heating up.

"Investors should divide capital at a ratio 30; 30; 40, with 30 percent for
securities, another 30 in other channels and the rest in cash or in banks," Nolan
said.

Foreign investors on April 16 became net buyers of more than a million shares
worth of 28 billion VND (1.6 million USD).

In Hanoi on April 16, the HASTC-Index also rose 1.22 percent to end at 129.45,
with 21.35 million traded for a total value of 606.49 billion VND (34.1 million
USD). Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Kim Long Securities (KLS) continued as the
most-active shares on the northern bourse.

Asian stocks in general pulled back from a six-month high on April 16 after
economic data from China showed signs of improvement in March. Su-Lin Ong, a
senior economist at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney , was quoted by Reuters as
saying that the economy was showing signs of greater stability, raising investors'
expectations for a recovery in the second half.-Enditem