Vietnam index up

Vietnam's benchmark VN Index edged up 0.4 percent to close at 499.07 points on Wednesday, lifted by buying in some bluechips but investors were cautious ahead of government bond issues, an analyst said. Shares of PetroVietNam Gas, Vietnam's biggest listed firm, led the market with a 1.57-percent rise. VietinBank, the country's largest partly private bank in terms of assets, climbed 1.72 percent.
Liquidity was low, with 48.8 million shares traded on the exchange on Wednesday, below the five-day average of 67.9 million shares. "Investors are cautiously waiting for more supporting news from the National Assembly and the US government," analyst Doan Thi Anh Nguyet at Saigon-Hanoi Securities said. The Vietnamese government is seeking the assembly's approval to raise an additional 170 trillion dong ($8.06 billion) via bonds to fund investment in the 2014-2016 period, the government said in its web site.