Vietnam’s stock market quiet after Greece debt crisis The news from Greece has affected the world market, but the Vietnamese stock market remained stable thanks to good news about the unlimited foreign ownership ratio in Vietnamese companies.   The dong/dollar exchange rate on Monday was stable with the selling dollar price quoted by commercial banks at VND21,840 per dollar. However, the euro saw sharp falls in prices in comparison with that of late last week. Vietcombank on June 29 morning quoted VND24,133.16 per euro, a decrease of 1.74 percent compared with June 26. The pound price also slightly decreased by 0.26 percent against the dong, quoted at VND34,432 per pound. The depreciation of the euro against the dong was attributed to the Vietnam’s current dollar-pegged exchange rate policy. Since the euro has depreciated against the US dollar due to the bad news from Greece, it has also depreciated against the dong. According to Businessinsider.com, the euro fell by 1.5 percent against the US dollar on late Sunday to $1.0979 per euro, from $1.1167 per euro last Friday, because of the news from Greece on the failure of the negotiation with Greek international creditors. In addition, the European Central Bank said that its financial bailout would not be larger than 89 billion euros. The world’s gold price has soared by one percent since June 28, from $1,174.2 per ounce on June 26, to $1,186.3. However, in Vietnam, the gold price remained low. SJC on June 29 quoted a gold price of VND34.44-34.36 million per tael (sell and buy), a modest increase of VND10,000 per tael, compared with the price the day before. A representative of a large gold trading company said that the domestic price was not influenced by the world’s price fluctuations because of very weak demand in the home market. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese stock market remained ‘green’ early this week because the bad news from Greece could not overshadow good news about the government of Vietnam’s decision to lift the foreign ownership ratio limitations, stipulated in Decree No 60. The VN Index on June 29 morning increased by six points to 588 points. Thirty three listed companies on the bourse now have foreign ownership ratios at over 45 percent, including many blue chips. However, Nguyen Thanh Lam from Maybank Kim Eng Securities Company said the situation could change in several days as Greece’s economic performance may get worse, which would have a bigger impact on the Vietnamese market. Lam said that in principle, the events in Europe, a major investment and trade partner of Vietnam, will sooner or later, influence Vietnam. Economic stagnation could affect purchasing power of Europeans, and in turn Vietnam’s exports to Europe would be affected. TBKTSG