The stock market was bullish last week as investors heard about the bright prospects for the national economy, including the news about an investment wave from APEC nations.

Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) representative, who attended the ‘Doing Business with Vietnam’ Forum on November 16, both anticipated a new wave of investment from APEC countries to Vietnam in the near future.

The words by the two officials were given weight by the fact that a series of contracts worth nearly $2bil were signed later between Vietnamese and APEC”s companies.

According to atpvietnam.com, which specialises in providing financial and securities information, investors are optimistic about the prospects for Vietnam’s national economy, and this has prompted them to inject money in securities trading. VOF, the investment fund managed by VinaCapital, has decided to raise its capital by $300mil, which will be invested in Vietnam’s stock market.

The VN Index rose sharply on November 17 by 13.96 points to 573.79 points. 29 share items saw price increases, 13, price decreases, while the prices of 12 other share items remained the same. The total of last week’s trading volume was 3.39mil shares with the total trading value of VND224bil, up by 14.5% in quantity and 10% in value compared to the previous week.

VSH shares (issued by Vinh Son – Song Hinh Hydropower Plant) were leading in terms of trading volume with 608,030 traded shares on November 17, followed by VNM (Vinamilk) with 459,230 shares and CII with 314,640 shares.

Many records for share prices were set on November 17. GMD was sold at VND123,000/share, the highest level so far, while SAM, at VND101,000/share, and VSH, at VND40,200 (+2%).

The newcomer ITA (issued by the Tan Tao Industrial Zone Development Company) was sold at VND59,000 on November 17, witnessing price increases in two consecutive transactions.

Foreign investors also set a new record on the purchased volume: they bought 1,916,000 shares and sold 127,020 shares. The most wanted shares were BMP (67,370 shares), CII (165,000), GMD (110,090), SAM (125,120), TYA (186,700), VNM (361,820).

The expectation of the new wave of investment into Vietnam has also helped stimulate demand at the Hanoi Securities Trading Centre (HASTC). The HASTC Index increased by 2.88 points on November 17 to 195.83 points.

In general, the stock market was bustling in nearly all last week’s transactions. In fact, the VN Index slightly decreased on November 16 as investors were disappointed with the news that the US President George Bush would come to Vietnam without PNTR grant. However, the market has bounced back as investors believe that PNTR will be granted to Vietnam, sooner or later, and that Vietnam will witness a big investment wave from APEC nations.

In related news

1. Imexpharm has received approval in principle to list its shares at the HCM City Securities Trading Centre. This will be the first pharmaceutical company to list on the bourse. Imexpharm has the total chartered capital of VND84bil ($5.25mil), of which, the state holds 28.29% of shares, Imexpharm’s staff hold 25.95%, outside investors 21.85% and strategic shareholders 23.91%.

2. The Hanoi Securities Trading Centre has announced it will put 90mil BCC (Bim Son Cement Joint Stock Company) shares into transaction at the centre on November 24. The company has the chartered capital of VND900bil ($56.25mil).

3. The State Securities Commission has granted a licence to Vinamilk to issue an additional 18,050,475 shares in order to raise more funds for their ongoing and upcoming projects. Currently, the company has the chartered capital of VND1,590bil ($99,375mil).