HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s benchmark VN-Index is expected to rise further this week and meet a strong test to get past the level of 730 points.

The benchmark index on the HCM Stock Exchange on Friday registered a slight gain of 0.05 per cent to close at 725.37 points.

Việt Nam’s key stock index has made a four-day run-up of 0.9 per cent and gained a total 0.7 per cent over a week.

The minor HNX Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange was up 0.54 per cent to finish Friday at 90.39 points, reversing a two-day fall of 0.5 per cent.

The northern market index increased by a total 0.8 per cent from the previous week’s ending level.

Daily market trading liquidity rose from the previous week. An average of more than 272.7 million shares were traded in each session, worth VNĐ5.43 trillion (US$241.7 million).

The figures were increases of 3.7 per cent in trading volume and 11 per cent in trading value compared to the previous trading week’s numbers.

Data of brokerages and trading exchanges show that market trading liquidity remained high in recent days as investors tried to offload stocks at high price levels during the closing period of the trading day, signaling a profit-taking movement in the short term.

According to market analysts, investor confidence is expected to remain positive and spread investment into stocks that have more room to increase and whose business performances are stable.

The VN Index has increased sharply since the end of April as investors have counted on the Vietnamese market to become the most profitable investment channel at the moment, said Nguyễn Hữu Bình, head of market analysis at Việt Nam Investment Securities (IVS).

Major concerns for market growth included the prospects of blue-chip stocks and a chance that investors may increase selling this week to gain instant profits, he said.

The VN Index has moved up marginally in the last two sessions despite of high market trading liquidity and large-cap stocks having increased strongly in recent weeks, approaching their short-term peaks, Bình said.

The VN Index is unlikely to make a big correction this week, said Bùi Nguyên Khoa, an analyst at BIDV Securities.

The index is still on the rise since the beginning of the year as market trading liquidity has been kept quite high and international developments have had little effect on market conditions, he said.

It is the flexible monetary policy of the Government and the central bank that has boosted Việt Nam’s economy and businesses, resulting in improved demand for lending, Khoa said.

That has assisted listed companies such as banks, brokerages and real estate firms improve their profits, pushing their share prices up and creating positive impact on investor confidence in the securities market, he said.

Meanwhile, foreign investors have been net buyers since the beginning of the year, with a net purchase value of VNĐ5.45 trillion compared to a net sell value of VNĐ7.97 trillion in the same period last year, he added.

Nguyễn Hồng Khanh, analyst at Sacombank Securities, said the VN Index is heading to a test against the short-term peak of 730 points given that the market is running out of supportive business information. Therefore, the benchmark would move near the 730-point level before changing direction.

Vietinbank Securities wrote in its report that market liquidity may decline in the next few days as sellers try to earn short-term profits at very high price levels, putting buyers back into cautious mode as they wait for clearer shots to make investments. — VNS