Vietnam index rises 0.5 pct, BaoViet outperforms

AsemconnectVietnam – Vietnam’s benchmark VN Index.VNI advanced 0.51 percent to 619.58 points at the break on Monday thanks to gains by BaoViet Holdings and PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Service Corp.

BaoViet, the country’s top insurer, outperformed the market to rise 5.49 percent after comments by Vietnam’s finance ministry in New York that the ceiling on foreign ownership in insurance companies would be fully lifted, analysts said.

PVD shares climbed 4.59 percent on the firm’s plan to pay a 30-percent dividend for 2014, including 15 percent in cash and the remaining in stock, the company said on its website on Friday.

Traders expect the index to rise in the next two to three sessions before corrections begin.

Here is a snapshot of the VN Index.VNI at midday (0431 GMT).

VN Index	619.58
PREV. CLOSE	616.43
% CHANGE	0.51%
HIGH	623.32
LOW	618.71
Change (%) 1-mnth	8.546
Change (%) 3-mnth	12.518
Change (%) 1-year	5.369
52-week high	644.56	3-Sep-14
52-week low	513.06	17-Dec-14