Hanoi (VNA) - Shares surged on January 17 on the two national stockexchanges, led by bank stocks, on expectations that the Government would allowbanks to raise the limit of foreign ownership this year.

Onthe HCM Stock Exchange, the VN Index recouped the January 16 loss with a riseof 1 percent to close at 684.7 points. The southern market index fell 1 percenton January 16.

Onthe Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX Index gained 1.1 percent to end at 83.9points. The northern market index lost 0.3 percent in the previous session.

Bankstocks were the main driving force of the indices’ rise, following a statementby Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Bloomberg Television on January 13,saying the Government would consider allowing banks to increase their foreigninvestment in capital this year in an attempt to restructure the banking systemand improve access to Vietnam’s market for foreign investors.

Thebanking industry index on vietstock.vn rose 4.8 percent, the strongest among 20sectors on the stock market, after the PM’s statement was published.

Sevenof the nine listed banks gained value, of which the largest lender by assets,Vietinbank (CTG), hit the daily limit rise of 7 percent on the HCM City’s bourse,touching 17,650 VND (0.78 USD) a share.

Otherlarge-cap banks like Vietcombank (VCB), BIDV (BID), Military Bank (MBB), AsiaCommercial Bank (ACB) and Sacombank (STB) climbed between 3 and 6 percent.

Theoverall market condition was negative, however, as the number of losing stocksoutnumbered the gaining ones by 219-185 and another 299 remained unchanged.

Fertiliserstocks were on the defensive side after an impressive rising streak.

PetrovietnamFertilizer & Chemicals (DPM), PetroVietnam Ca Mau (DCM) and Binh Dien Fertilizer(BFC) in HCM City fell 2-6 percent each, while Lam Thao Fertilizers andChemicals (LAS) in Hanoi dropped by the maximum rate of nearly 10 percent.

“Themarket is largely segmented with a large number of declining stocks, whichmeans opportunity to expand profits of investors is narrowing,” said Tran Duc Anh,a stock analyst at Bao Viet Securities Co.

Thoughadmitting potential risk in the short term, Duc Anh offered a positive marketoutlook in the medium term given optimistic earnings prospects of manyenterprises in leading industries, such as banking, real estate, steel andconstruction.

Liquidityimproved with a total of 131 million shares worth a combined 2.7 trillion VND (119.5million USD) traded in the two markets, up 4.8 percent in volume and 12.5 percentin value against the January 16 levels.

Foreigninvestors turned to net selling on January 17, with a value of 28 billion VND.They were net buyers for 73.6 billion VND on the previous day.-VNA