HÀ NỘI – Shares surged yesterday on the two national stock exchanges, led by bank stocks, on expectations that the Government would allow banks to raise the limit of foreign ownership this year.

On the HCM Stock Exchange, the VN Index recouped Monday’s loss with a rise of 1 per cent to close at 684.7 points. The southern market index fell 1 per cent on Monday.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX Index gained 1.1 per cent to end at 83.9 points. The northern market index lost 0.3 per cent in the previous session.

Bank stocks were the main driving force of the indices’ rise, following a statement by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Bloomberg Television on January 13, saying the Government would consider allowing banks to increase their foreign investment in capital this year in an attempt to restructure the banking system and improve access to Việt Nam’s market for foreign investors.

The banking industry index on vietstock.vn rose 4.8 per cent, the strongest among 20 sectors on the stock market, after the PM’s statement was published.

Seven of the nine listed banks gained value, of which the largest lender by assets, Vietinbank (CTG), hit the daily limit rise of 7 per cent on the HCM City’s bourse, touching VNĐ17,650 (US$0.78) a share.

Other large-cap banks like Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Military Bank (MBB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Sacombank (STB) climbed between 3 and 6 per cent.

The overall market condition was negative, however, as the number of losing stocks outnumbered the gaining ones by 219-185 and another 299 remained unchanged.

Fertiliser stocks were on the defensive side after an impressive rising streak.

Petrovietnam Fertilizer & Chemicals (DPM), PetroViet Nam Cà Mau (DCM) and Bình Điền Fertilizer (BFC) in HCM City fell 2-6 per cent each, while Lâm Thao Fertilizers and Chemicals (LAS) in Hà Nội dropped by the maximum rate of nearly 10 per cent.

“The market is largely segmented with a large number of declining stocks, which means opportunity to expand profits of investors is narrowing,” said Trần Đức Anh, a stock analyst at Bảo Việt Securities Co.

Though admitting potential risk in the short term, Đức Anh offered a positive market outlook in the medium term given optimistic earnings prospects of many enterprises in leading industries, such as banking, real estate, steel and construction.

Liquidity improved with a total of 131 million shares worth a combined VNĐ2.7 trillion ($119.5 million) traded in the two markets, up 4.8 per cent in volume and 12.5 per cent in value against Monday’s levels.

Foreign investors turned to net selling yesterday, with a value of VNĐ28 billion. They were net buyers for VNĐ73.6 billion on Monday. – VNS