The stock market on April 8 opened the week’s trading on a positive
note with shares on both exchanges climbing on investor optimism.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange surpassed the
psychological barrier of 505 points, closing the day up 0.81 percent at
506.66 points.

Trading was busier towards the end of
the afternoon with a total of nearly 52.2 million shares, worth nearly
947 billion VND (45.1 million USD), changing hands, up 10 percent in
volume and 15 percent in value compared to the previous trading day
(April 5).

Blue chips continued to support the market
when many of the top 30 shares by market capitalisation and liquidity
such as Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Vinamilk (VNM), FPT Corp (FPT),
Military Bank (MBB) and Vietcombank (VCB) posted gains, pushing the VN
30 up 0.85 percent to 575.02 points.

Property
developer Tan Tao Investment Industry (ITA) led the southern market’s
trades with more than 3.5 million shares exchanged, but the shares lost
over 2.8 percent to be traded at 6,900 VND a share.

On
the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also jumped 0.59 percent to
61.36 points on trading value of 416 billion VND (19.8 million USD) by
the end of the session.

Trading in shares of
Saigon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) accounted for nearly 40 percent of total market
value with over 20.6 million shares changing hands, becoming the most
active code on the northern bourse.

Late last week,
the lender announced a huge profit of almost 1.15 trillion VND (54.8
million USD) in 2012 while its bad debt ratio reduced to less than 5
percent and a dividend payout set at 8 percent.

SHB rose 5.8 percent to close the day at 7,200 VND a share.-VNA