HÀ NỘI  — Vietnamese shares are expected to increase on both local exchanges in the first trading session of the new lunar year on February2, approaching a fresh nine-year high, according to securities firms.

The benchmark VN Index climbed 0.9 per cent to reach a new nine-year high of 697.28 points on January 25, extending its rally of a total of 2.2 per cent to a fourth day.

The HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange also rose 0.9 per cent the same day to finish at 84.46 points, lifting its gain of a total of 1.7 per cent for a second day.

In the three trading days before the Tết holiday, market trading liquidity declined compared with the previous trading week.

Some 117 million shares were on average exchanged in the three sessions, posting a weekly decline of 3.2 per cent. Average trading value in the three trading days was VNĐ2.21 trillion (US$98.45 million), 11 per cent lower than the previous week’s figure.

Sài Gòn-Hà Nội Securities Co (SHS) said in a note the stock market was expected to make gains in the first two sessions of the new lunar year, with low market trading liquidity.

The VN Index is heading to test the level of 700 points and the risk of correction is increasing. In that case, the nearest support level for the benchmark could be 689 points, SHS said.

Investors with a taste of mid-term and long-term investment can look for opportunities to buy shares of companies that are expected to perform well in 2017, the Hà Nội-based brokerage firm noted.

Bảo Việt Securities Co (BVSC) also agreed market trading will improve following the Tết holiday, since money will return and help increase market trading liquidity.

Investors may purchase stocks that are currently attractive and are forecast to report positive earnings for 2016, BVSC said.

Of the companies that are expected to report good 2016 earnings and perform better in 2017, pharmaceutical firms and steelmakers are the noteworthy targets after the two industries witnessed good growth in 2016.

In addition, investor confidence could also be bolstered as foreign investors returned to net buyers in January, making a net buy value of nearly VND702 billion through the month.

According to the financial-economic news site vietstock.vn, investors with short-term trading interest could lock in their profits on Thursday, February2, the first trading session of the Rooster year.

If the benchmark VN Index is able to stay above the range of 680-690 points, it can approach and test the level of 720 points. In that case, the support range for the benchmark index will be between 675 and 680 points.

The HNX-Index will likely maintain its upward trend and head to its former high of 88-90 points, wherein the support level for the northern market index will be 82.5 points. — VNS