The VN-Index rose 1.59 points to close at 958.67 but the forecast is for it to hit 1,100 on the back of several major initial public offerings.

Vietcombank and Mobifone are expected to go public and announce sale of stakes to strategic investors before that. Analysts expect foreign investors to take a fresh look at the market that has been treading water for a few months now.

The HCMC Stock Exchange saw 10.9 million shares traded for VND934 billion (US$58 million), achieving for the second straight day the highest volume and value in the last six months.

There were 72 gainers and 24 losers out of the 115 listed stocks.

Aggressive interest in property saw newly-listed VIC hit the 5 percent upper ceiling for the second day running.

Sacombank and VIC recorded respectively the highest volume and value at 3.1 million shares and VND167 billion.

Foreign investors were net buyers injecting VND213 billion, 13 percent higher than on Thursday.

The two mutual funds, PRUBF1 and VMFVF1, edged down to finish at VND11,100 and VND31,000.

Hanoi’s HASTC-Index lost 1.11 points to close at 272.49.

Source: Thanh Nien – Compiled by Dong Ha