Index spikes on surprisingly heavy trading

Hanoi (VNA) - Trading volume on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange on April 22 nearly doubled from April 21's session, reaching 50 million shares and lifting the VN-Index to 321.86, a 2.91 percent increase.

Total value of the day's trades hit 1.3 trillion VND (72.2 million USD), with
gainers outnumbering decliners by 137 to 33. A majority of shares hit the ceiling
of their daily trading bands.

Most-active shares were Sacombank with about 9 million shares traded, and Saigon
Securities Inc with 6.6 million.

Foreign investor transactions remained modest, however, with 9.2 million shares
changing hands. Foreign investors ended the day as net sellers of 3.2 million
shares, worth a net of 64.4 billion VND (3.6 million USD).

Nguyen Dinh Phong, director of the VNDirect Securities Co. analysis department,
said many investors were now in the mindset to hold onto shares, particularly
those assessed as undervalued or expecting to pay dividends this year at
double-digit rates.

Many investment funds were holding off from buying in light of the recent spike in
share values, Sai Gon Asset Mangement chairman Louis Nguyen told Dau Tu Chung
Khoan (Securities Investment) newspaper.

Taking up a defensive position was necessary to many funds in the current
uncertain situation, he added.

In Hanoi on April 22, the HASTC-Index advanced 4.14 percent to close at
115.31. Trading volume rose by 52 percent over the previous session to 22.7
million shares, with a turnover of 561.5 billion VND (31.2 million USD).

Activity on the northern exchange also concentrated on bank and financial shares,
as Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) generated orders for 5.5 million shares, and Kim
Long Securities (KLS) 5.4 million.

Shares of newcomers Sai Gon- Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank and Song Hong
Construction Joint Stock Co. both reached their ceiling prices.-Enditem