Bank capital rules help lift shares
HA NOI — Stock indices returned to positive territory yesterday, following a message from the State Bank of Viet Nam that it would revise strict new rules on the capital adequacy ratio of commercial banks.
The State Bank announced late Wednesday that it would revise regulations in the controversial Circular No 13 on commercial bank equity and capital adequacy ratios, in compliance with a Government instruction issued late last month to review the circular.
The VN-Index responded with a gain yesterday of 1.14 per cent, closing the session at 463.68 points.
Trading on the HCM City Stock Exchange remained modest, with a volume of 47.7 million shares, down 12.8 per cent from Wednesday session.
The value of trades reached just VND1.2 trillion (US$61.5 million).
Viet Nam Ocean Shipping Co (VOS), which listed 140 million shares on the HCM City market on Wednesday, was the most-active share, with 2.8 million sold.
Among 184 gainers on the southern market, a number of penny stocks rose to their ceiling prices, including Binh Thanh Import-Export and Trade (GIL), HCM City Metal Corp (HMC) and Nari Hamico Mineral Corp (KSS).
Meanwhile, banking shares underperformed despite the supporting news from the State Bank. Sacombank (STB) and Eximbank (EIB) each rose by about 1.5 per cent, while VietinBank (CTG) closed up by 0.5 per cent. Vietcombank (VCB) continued to decline, meanwhile, dropping by 0.26 per cent.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rebounded by a more notable 2.75 per cent yesterday to a close of 136.24 points, on a total volume of 47 million shares.
The value of trades reached VND1.2 trillion ($61.5 million), with PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) leading the session with a volume of 5.3 million shares.
Woori CBV Securities Co analysts said the amount of capital injected into the northern markets seemed to be increasing, signalling a new rise in speculative trading.
A market rallying on speculation would also be reflected through the rising prices of penny stocks, they said, suggesting any uptrend now carried high risk for investors.
Bao Viet Securities Co analyst Tran Hai Yen said, meanwhile, that steady capital inflows reflected stabler investor sentiment. She acknowledged that capital was being directed unevenly toward different categories of stocks, and would focus on low-cap, speculative shares.
Wall Street also rebounded overnight, driven by successful European bond auctions, further encouraging local investors.
Foreign investors were net buyers on both bourses yesterday, picking up a total 1.55 million shares worth VND64.2 billion ($3.3 million). — VNS