A majority of shares saw gains on both national stock exchanges yesterday, once again halting the prolonged downward trend as investors began hunting for bargain shares.

The market had touched the point at which risk-taking investors had again found it attractive, said independent analyst Pham Viet Hung.

"Many investors expect the current downturn will stop here and a new rising wave will appear early next year," Hung said. But he believed that "today's rising trend needs to be tested next week as the market still lacks supportive news."

The Ministry of Finance issued Circular No 183/2011/TT-BTC yesterday on the establishment and management of open-end funds, information that was expected to have a positive impact on next week's trading.

Yesterday on the HCM City Stock Exchange, the VN-Index ended eight consecutive sessions of declines to close above 366 points, an increase of 0.43 per cent over the previous day's session.

Advancers overwhelmed decliners by a margin of 180-50, with 73 codes hitting their ceiling prices for the day.

Heavy buys helped boost the value of trades by 41 per cent to VND972.2 billion (US$46.3 million), while volume rose by 61 per cent to 65.3 million shares. Negotiated trades accounted for about half of total value.

Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and Sacombank Securities (SBS) led trading, with over 10.6 million and 9.6 million shares exchanged, respectively.

Most blue chips posted gains of 0.7 to 3.7 per cent, while property developer Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG), Vietcombank (VCB) and PetroVietnam Finance (PVF) all soared to their ceiling prices. Of the 10 leading shares by capitalisation, only food producer Masan Group (MSN) and real estate developer Vincom (VIC) lost value.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index concluded the session at 59.83 points, a jump of 1.58 per cent over Thursday's close. The value of trades declined by 18 per cent, however, to about VND255 billion ($12 million) on a volume of 29.7 million shares. Shares of securities companies were still the most-active in Ha Noi, with VNDirect Securities (VND) and Kim Long Securities (KLS) seeing volumes of 3.2 million and 2.8 million shares, respectively. Foreign investors concluded yesterday as net buyers on both exchanges, picking up a combined VND100.8 billion ($4.8 million) worth of shares.

VNS