Vietnam's stock market rallies on strong cash inflow

Vietnam's stock market advanced during the week due to stronger cash inflow in the market thanks to investors' rising confidence. VN-Index, the country's national index of southern Ho Chi Minh City bourse (HoSE), witnessed five consecutive upward sessions with liquidity improved after a prolonged decline which pulled the VN-Index down to a four-month low. The Ho Chi Minh City bourse recently announced that it would deploy a set of five new indices, which followed international practices and would provide more information for investors. The index set would include VNMidcap, VNSmall cap, VN100, VN- Industry and VNAllshares. Shares eligible for the set are not subject to warning, control or trading suspension by the exchange within three months prior to the assessment. They must be listed on the exchange for at least six months. Newly listed shares that are in the top five market capitalization will be considered if they have been listed for at least three months. The new indices are expected to offer investors more choices to pour their money. In addition, companies selected to be tracked by the indices would raise a higher sense of transparency obligation and liquidity to retain their spot, assessed Vietnam News Agency. The VN-Index of HoSE went up 1.5 points or 0.31 percent to close at 486.61 points on Friday. During the week, VN-Index won 9.42 point or 1.97 percent against last Friday's closing session. The index experienced four ups and one down, posting the highest level of 486.61 points on Friday and the lowest level of 479.09 points on Monday. Last week VN-Index ranged from 474.26 points to 477.33 points. A total of 47.133 million shares worth 744.094 billion VND (35. 26 million U.S. dollars) changed hands at the HoSE on Friday, a decrease of 5.38 percent in volume and 10.33 percent in value against Thursday. VN-30 index, the new benchmark index for the HoSE which has been applied since Feb. 6, 2012 and tracks the 30 leading shares by both market capitalization and liquidity, closed at 545.49 points on Friday, down 0.34 points, or 0.06 percent against the previous trading day. A total of 20.019 million shares were traded, worth 465.4 billion VND (22.05 million U.S. dollars). On the country's northern bourse, Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index concluded at 60.4 points, up 0.08 points, or 0.13 percent on Friday against the previous trading day's closing session.