Illustrative photo. (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Sharesopened the first trading day of the new year on a high note, with investorsconfident of bright prospect of the securities market.
On the Ho Chi Minh City StockExchange, the VN-Index rose 1.1 per cent to close at 672 points.
On the Hanoi bourse, theHNX-Index gained 1.6 percent to end at 81.4 points.
The southern bourse’s index rosenearly 15 percent in 2016, while the northern index remained mostly flat.
Bank stocks led the market upturnas six of nine listed banks gained value, with Vietinbank (CTG) and BIDV (BID),two of the three largest listed lenders, hitting the daily limit rise of 7 percent on the HCM Stock Exchange.
Vietcombank (VCB) and Eximbank(EIB) also leapt 5 per cent, each.
The largest bank on the Hanoimarket, Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), grew 8 percent.
Only Sacombank (STB) and MilitaryBank (MBB) stocks declined.
Banking stocks experienced one oftheir worst years in 2016 and analysts forecast this stock group would likelymake a comeback this year.
Other large-cap shares werepositive yesterday as 22 of the top 30 biggest shares by market capitalisationand liquidity increased. Investors were upbeat on optimistic comments by headsof the market regulating bodies.
“The market has experienced theworst things in 2016, and 2017 will see many positive factors,” said chairmanof the State Securities Commission, Vu Bang.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) istargeted to grow 6.7 per cent this year, while some bank policies, includinginterest and exchange rates, will be made more flexible to better support theeconomy.
These are important factors tomaintain growing momentum for the stock market, Bang said.
Liquidity dropped with 117million shares worth nearly 2.2 trillion VND (nearly 97 million USD) traded inthe two markets, down 24 per cent in volume and 32 per cent in value comparedto the December 31 trading session.
Foreign investors remained netbuyers in the two markets, but their net buy value decreased substantially from498 billion VND on December 31 to just 14.6 billion VND on January 3.-VNA
