The VN-Index is forecast to extend its growth next week and conquer the 1000-point threshold, analysts said.— VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The VN-Index is forecast to extend its growth next week and conquer the 1000-point threshold, analysts said.

The VN-Index on the HCM Stock Exchange closed Friday up 0.34 per cent at 991.34 points. The southern market rose 2.3 per cent for the week after five consecutive gaining sessions.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged up 0.63 per cent to end at 113.37 points and expanded last week’s rally to 1.5 per cent.

An average of more than 231.2 million shares worth VNĐ4.5 trillion (US$197 million) were traded in each session last week, up 2.6 per cent in volume but down 8.1per cent in value compared to the previous week.

According to Nguyễn Nhật Cường, deputy director of VietinBank Securities Company, the VN-Index was expected to continue on an upward trend and pass the 1,000-point barrier.

Cường told tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn that the stock market had received a lot of supportive information on rosy macro-economic fundamentals, the strong return of foreign capital flows and optimistic expectations for business results in the third quarter.

Nguyễn Trung Du, senior expert at VNDirect Securities Co (VNDS), said the market would remain positive in the context that international financial markets were stabilising while the dollar continued to weaken.

“Foreign investors were also net buyers. However, the selling pressure at the resistance zone of 1,000 points is quite high so the VN-Index is still accumulating to overcome,” Du said.

This week witnessed the restructuring of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the third quarter. Many large-cap stocks will undergo selling pressure when they are removed from the funds’ lists.

Du, however, said the market would still extend its gains and beat the 1000-point peak.

Nguyễn Ngọc Lan, head of the brokerage division at Agribank Securities Co, said market would definitely see shake-ups when it reached the 1,000-point zone but the current market sentiment was good.

“I think the market is likely to move towards the 1,000 point range in the short term but investors should pay close attention to ETFs’ restructuring, which may temporarily hinder the market in the short term,” Lan said.

Lan said investors also needed to observe the selling pressure so that they could predict whether the market could continue to go further or not.

Shares experienced active trading sessions last week with liquidity remaining high, said Nguyễn Hồng Khanh, head of market analysis at Việt Nam International Securities Joint Stock Company.

Khanh added that market would not likely make large gains in the current period and would need a period to cumulate for the year-end.

Du said the best-performing sectors  would include banking, securities, oil and gas, real estate, manufacturing and textiles.

However, each sector would still witness large variations among stocks prices, especially banking, Du said.

“I think the opportunities are quite open for investors to selectively buy stocks with a positive outlook from now until the year-end,” he said.

Nguyễn Thế Minh, head of analysis at Yuanta Securities Vietnam Co, said investors should prioritise their holdings in large-caps and mid-caps, especially banking stocks as they were likely to drive the market. — VNS