Hanoi (VNS/VNA)- Vietnamese stocks are expected to rise further on expectations of positivecorporate earnings reports from the financial-banking sector and a stronginflow of foreign investment, analysts said.

The benchmark VN-Index rose1 percent to 1,115.64 points on January 26, making a second-session increase of2.6 percent after it had previously shut down for two days due to the technicalcrash late January 22.

The southern market indexgained 5 percent in three sessions last week.

Trading liquidity increasedon the HCM Stock Exchange (HoSE) compared to the previous week despite themarket’s January 22 crash.

An average of nearly 355.6million shares was traded on the southern bourse in each session of last week,worth 10.3 trillion VND (459.4 million USD).

The trading figures were up13.3 percent in volume and 23.2 percent in value compared to the previousweek’s numbers.

Shares also closed higheron the Hanoi Stock Exchange on January 26 with the HNX-Index edging up 0.16 percentat 126.82 points.

The northern market indexnotched weekly growth of 3.6 percent.

An average of more than72.2 million shares worth 1.2 trillion VND was traded on the northern bourse.

The trading numbers fell1.8 percent in volume but increased 11.7 percent in value on a weekly basis.

Dang Thanh The, strategicdirector of KB Securities Co, said the main factor helping drive up the marketwas the cash flow from funds and institutional investors.

As of January 19, theexchange-traded fund VNM ETF attracted total capital of 40.15 million USD whilethe figure for FTSE ETF was 10.18 million USD, The said.

Hoang Thach Lan, head ofthe individual investor division at Viet Dragon Securities Co, said foreigninvestment was the main driver of the VN-Index, with large cash-flows beingpoured into the two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and from these ETFs intoblue-chip stocks on the southern bourse, mainly large-caps in the VN30, the top30 largest shares by market value and liquidity on the HoSE.

The expectation that Vietnam’ssecurities market could enter Morgan Stanley Capital International’s watchlistto be promoted to the emerging market status would also attract foreigners toincrease net purchase value, he told tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn.

Foreign investors on January26 posted a net buy value of 461 billion VND on HoSE, raising their total netinvestment this month to 11.8 trillion VND.

Information related to theexpansion of the foreign ownership in banks and the rise of global oil priceswould also contribute to push the VN-Index to exceed its all-time peak of 1,170points in 2007 soon, he said.

Vietcombank shares (VCB)have increased by 27 percent since the beginning of the year. The figures forBank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) and Vietinbank (CTG) are27.5 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

Brent crude price closedFriday at $70.52, up 5 percent from last year’s ending figure and up 57 percentfrom last year’s lowest hit on June 21.

PetroVietnam Gas JointStock Corporation shares (GAS) have climbed 12.8 percent since the beginning ofthis year. The figure for PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services (PVD) is26.7 percent.

Lan said large-cap stocksin the finance-banking and securities sectors were likely to rise further, dueto the strong purchasing power of foreigners, as those companies were forecastto perform even better in 2018.

Additionally, the Statecapital withdrawal plans in some State-owned enterprises would entice buyers,especially in the energy and chemical sectors, he added.

Among those companies,PetroVietnam Power Corporation on January 31 will put 468 million shares forsale at its initial public offering (IPO) at the starting price of 14,400 VND pershare.

At the IPO of the VietnamOil Corporation held on January 25, the company successfully auctioned over 206million shares at a starting price of 13,400 VND to earn 184 million USD, 51 percenthigher than expected result.

Binh Son Refining andPetrochemical Company earned 244.5 million USD from the IPO of nearly 242million shares or 7.79 percent of its charter capital. The result was 55 percenthigher than expected.-VNA