(VOV) - Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh struck a gong at the Hanoi Stock Exchange on February 18, kick-starting the first trading session of the stock market in the new lunar year.

He pointed out challenges the domestic stock market faces in 2013 and asked securities officials and staff, investors and businesses to join hands with the government to surmount difficulties and move the market ahead.

Deputy PM Ninh raises high hopes for the stock market in the new year (Photo:VGP)

He expressed his hope that the stock market will grow and flourish in 2013, contributing to the government’s targets of stabilising the macroeconomy, containing inflation, maintaining social order, and achieving higher economic growth.

In the first trading session of the new lunar year, the Hanoi Stock Exchange index (HNX-Index) increased 0.36 points to close at 66.57 points, and the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange Index (VN-Index) inched up 2.67 points to close at 496.7 points.

Despite local and global economic difficulties in 2012, Vietnam was among countries that had steady stock market growth in the world.

Late last year, VN-Index, the figure that represents Vietnam’s stock market growth, stood at 413.73 points, up 17.7 percent against 2011.

Total traded stock value hit VND765 trillion, an increase of VND226 trillion against 2011, or 26 percent of the country’s GDP.