Stocks rebound following holiday

Stocks rebound following holiday

Shares opened yesterday's session in the green after the three-day national holiday.

The total social investment capital in the first quarter hit VND197.7 trillion (US$9.4 billion), up 12.8 per cent against the same period last year but declined 2.7 per cent if the price factor is excluded.

"Thus, the reduction in investment has affected GDP growth in the quarter," said Cao Tan Phat, ACB Securities Co analyst. "It is understandable as high lending interest rates have adversely affected domestic investment."

Phat said he expected slowing inflation to boost domestic consumption and investment this quarter.

He estimated GDP growth would be about 5.4 per cent, which he said was a reasonable figure.

However, his market forecast was not positive.

"Although there was a rally, the market will possibly decline again," Phat said.

On the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index retreated for several minutes but eventually rallied by more than 1 per cent, reaching 445.77 points. Meanwhile, the VN30 rose 1.14 per cent to 505.77 points.

The value of trades, however, slid 5.9 per cent compared to last Friday's bull trap to VND830.76 billion ($39.5 million). Trading volume reached about 59.8 million shares.

Of the 30 shares tracked by the VN30, only four stocks tumbled, losing between 0.8-3.6 per cent. Meanwhile, five others hit their ceiling prices, including property developers Dic Corp (DIG) and Quoc Cuong Gia Lai, PetroVietnam Finance (PVF), Refrigeration Electrical Engineering (REE) and Sai Gon Securities Inc (SSI).

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index gained nearly 3.2 per cent to reach 74.49 points with over half of all listed codes posting gains. Market value reached only 93.5 per cent of last Friday's close, totalling VND623.5 billion ($29.7 million) on a volume of 66.7 million shares.

Earlier on Monday, US hedge fund Elliott Advisers LP dropped a lawsuit against the State-owned shipbuilder Vinashin, the Wall Street Journal reported. Elliott sued Vinashin in the British High Court in December for its investment in a $600 million syndicated loan that Vinashin defaulted on in December 2010. Vinashin initially offered repayment of 35 cents on the dollar to bondholders before Elliott filed that suit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Elliott was suing for par value of its debt along with unpaid interest and default interest, totaling $13.2 million, according to a filing made to the court seen by the Wall Street Journal.

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