Canny investors keep eyes on the ball

Volume was up 40 per cent to 31.8 million shares, with value up 53 per cent to VND642 billion ($31 million).

Buyers continuously bid for shares despite sellers largely selling out their holdings to lock profits, motivating further the market at the session’s end.

Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI) topped the market again with more than 3.7 million units matched, followed by Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp. (REE) with 1.5 million shares changing hands.

Major stocks with modest prices like Sacombank (STB), Licogi 16 (LCG) and Tan Tao Investment Industry Corp. (ITA) strongly changed hands.

All offers for blue-chips Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), PetroVietnam Finance (PVF), Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) were matched.

The VN-Index of Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange sharply gained 9.87 points or 2.28 per cent to 443.68 points. Three-quarters of the bourse advanced with 221 stocks up and 38 off, among them 120 hitting the ceiling.

The Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) added 3.38 per cent, or 2.49 points, to 76.09 points.

Securities company shares continued being strongly bidded for, with Bao Viet Securities (BVS), Kim Long Securities (KLS) and VnDirect Securities (VND) all hitting the ceiling.

PetroVietnam Construction (PVX) hit the ceiling with more than one million bid orders at ceiling price outstanding.

More than four million KLS shares were matched, making the stock active the most today. BVS, VND and PVX saw more than two million shares traded each.

Banking shares, however, nearly saw just a static session, among them Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), Habubank (HBB) and Saigon-Hanoi Bank all ended flat or slightly gained.

Volume reached 38 million shares, worth VND434 billion ($20.9 million).