The local market continued its bullish run on Thursday as a majority of stocks hit their ceiling prices on strong demand, lifting the VN-Index up a hefty 10.94 points, or 2.8%, against the previous session to close at 401.61.

The market opened in the black and climbed steadily throughout the day before reaching a plateau at the end of the second phase. It then traded in a narrow range for the final phase before finally closing at the daily high.

Market movement was driven by retail investors while transactions continued to focus on stocks to be included in the basket used to calculate the new VN-30 Index. On the southern bourse, there were 43.9 million shares worth VND715.3 billion traded, up 12% and 14.8% from the day earlier respectively.

The market saw 211 stocks advancing and 65 others declining, with 124 stocks soaring to the ceiling prices and 23 stocks dropping to the floor prices.

Eximbank (EIB) continued to lead the market in terms of liquidity, hitting the highest price of the day, at VND15,700 per share, on the volume of 5.7 million shares. Sacombank (STB) was the second most actively traded stock but lost 0.5% against the previous day to VND18,900 with 1.8 million shares changing hands.

Foreign investors steadily reduced their trading, accounting for 13.2% and 9.6% of the market’s buying and selling value respectively on Thursday.

The Hanoi market also recovered well with turnover improved to VND270.4 billion. The HNX-Index surged 2.1 points, or 3.47%, against the previous session and ended the day at 62.57.

Gainers far outnumbered losers by 244 to 50, including 120 stocks hitting the ceiling prices and 25 stocks dipping to the floor prices. Foreigners continued their net buying, representing 2.8% of the buying value and 1% of the selling value.

HCMC Securities Corp. said the markets had a breakout day as investors reacted to Wednesday’s shallow correction by concluding that this rally deserved to be taken more seriously.

“Deposit rates have reverted to 14% or less after Tet. The stock market may be looking more relatively more attractive for the time being. So in the next few days and possibly weeks the momentum argument is likely to come into play and we may start to move higher as participation rates improve,” HSC said.

“From a VN-Index standpoint, however, our technical analysts tell us that we expect strong resistance in the 420-430 box and then if we can get through that the next line comes in at around 450 points,” it added.

Source: Saigon times