Shares failed to move significantly yesterday in the final trading day before the Tet (lunar new year) holiday, despite the release of encouraging inflation data by the nation's two largest cities.

In Ha Noi, inflation rose this month at a rate of 0.96 per cent compared to December, a slower rate of increase compared to recent years for the month in which Tet was approaching. The figure in HCM City was even lower, at 0.89 per cent increase.

The positive news failed to lift shares on the HCM City Stock Exchange, and the VN-Index closed down by 0.12 per cent to 373.00 points, snapping a nine-day rally.

The value of trades surged by more than 97 per cent over Thursday's level, reaching VND661.7 billion (US$31.5 million), as volume totalled 29.6 million shares.

Over half of all listed shares added points before the close. However, among the 10 leading shares by capitalisation, only Phu My Fertilisers (DPM), Eximbank (EIB) and real estate developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG) saw gains on the day. HAG's gains came even as its parent company announced significantly lower profits for 2011.

Japan Viet Nam Medical Instrument Co (JVC) continued to be the most-active share in HCM City with nearly 2.3 million traded.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched up 0.05 per cent to 58.44 points. Value reached VND196.8 billion ($9.4 million), an increase of 21.3 per cent over Thursday, on a volume of just over 25 million shares. Advancers outnumbered decliners by 133-97.

VNDirect Securities Co (VND) was the most-active share nationwide with 2.8 million exchanged.

The Vietnamese market was significantly undervalue and offered potentially lucrative investments, according to an article in Forbes magazine by Peter Cohan.

"Indonesia, which has been thought of as a great place to invest in the last year or so, is passe, and the best opportunity in the region for 2012 is to invest is Viet Nam," Cohan wrote. He also noted the high dividend yields of many Vietnamese shares.

"The [average] 12-per-cent yield is extremely high – particularly compared to the sub-1 per cent rates that we are used to earning on our bank accounts."

The markets will close next week for the Tet holidays, with trading to resume on January 30.

Source: VNS