Hanoi (VNA) - Shares cooled down a little on January 26 on the HCM StockExcha🃏nge after a “crazy” session on January 25, backed by strong growth offinance stocks.

Thebenchmark VN-Index ended up 1 percent at 1,115.64, a second rally after atwo-day shutdown due to the technical crash on January 22’s afternoon trade.The southern market index gained nearly 5 percent in three sessions this week. Liquiditydeclined steeply on HCM City’s exchange but remained at high levels, totaling 293million shares worth 9.3 trillion VND (roughly 408 million USD), down 43percent in volume and 35 percent in value compared to January 25. Bankingstocks continued to perform well but at a slower pace. Six of eight listedlenders rallied while only two (VPBank and HDBank) ended in the negative. BIDV(BID) hit the daily rise limit of 7 percent, followed by Military Bank (MBB) - upover 6 percent. The two biggest banks by market value – Vietcombank (VCB) andVietinbank (CTG)- increased by 2 percent each. “We thinkit is difficult to pick banking stocks based only on their fundamentalvaluation. However, if we look at other aspects including the capital movement,we believe banking stocks are still a good choice,” said Son Tran, a stockanalyst at Viet Dragon Securities Co. In amarket review on January 26, Son forecast the correction in the banking groupwill not be severe. Brokerage stocks were also good choice considering the relentlessly increasingmarket, he said, noting HCM Securities Co (HCM) also rose by the maximum 7percent. Brokeragefirms are divided into two groups with the first including big companies suchas Saigon Securities Inc (SSI), HCM, Viet Capital Securities (VCI) and VNDirectSecurities (VND). The second group, called ‘emerging’ players, includes SaiGon-Hanoi Securities (SHS), Bao Viet Securities (BVS), Viet Dragon Securities(VDS), FPT Securities (FTS) and MB Securities (MBS). “Dependingon preferences, investors can choose between famous companies and highpotential mid-small groups,” Son said. Sharesalso closed higher on the Hanoi Stock Exchange on January 26 with the HNX-Indexedging up 0.16 percent at 126.82 points. The northern market index increased3.6 percent in five sessions this week. Nearly 74 million sharesworth 1.24 trillion VND (54.4 million USD) were traded, down 27 percent in bothtrading volume and value compared with January 25’s levels.-VNA