VN-Index rises for third straight week

Hanoi (VNA) - Significant trading in blue chips helped the Vietnamese stockmarket maintain its upward trend for the third week in a row.

The VN-Index last week gained 19.96 points or 3.86 percent to finish at 456.64, despite the downturn in trading on Monday when the VN-Index droppedto 435.89 points.

Trading volume, including shares and fund certificates, on Friday, stood at13.58 million shares, representing half that of Monday.

Trading revenue for the whole week was 2.96 trillion VND (179.09 millionUSD).

Sacombank (STB) and Phu My Fertiliser (DPM) remained the heaviest traded codes last week, with share volumes reaching 10.96 million and 6.89 million,respectively.

The Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange management board last week decided to suspend trading in Bach Tuyet Cotton (BBT) due to earnings' losses in 2006and 2007.

The board said that it could begin trading again when it fully disclosed itsbusiness performance.

Foreign investors last week were active on the local exchange, buying a net volume of 7.80 million shares. Blue chips like DPM, SSI, or Vinamilk's VNMdrew much attention from this sector.

Many analysts predicted this week would see a slight downturn when listed firms began releasing business-performance data for the second quarter,which are expected to fall short of expectations.

Analysts suggested investors exercise their own judgement, rather thanfollowing herd-like other investors' decisions.

Hanoi Securities Trading Centre mirrored movements on the HCM City Stock Exchange. The HASTC-Index climbed 5.93 percent or 7.45 points to finish at133.00.

Trading volume was 44.25 million shares with a turnover of 91.12 trillion VND (68.08 million USD). Blue chips such as Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Kim Long Securities (KLS) and PetroVietnam Securities (PVS) were the mainplayers.

ACB last week saw 4.81 million shares change hands, while KLS and PVS saw turnover of more than 3 million shares each.-Enditem