Vietnam’s Stocks Seen Gaining 65% as Rates Fall: Southeast Asia

Vietnamese stocks, Asia’s biggest losers during the past five years, are rising the most in 2012 as the nation’s largest money managers say falling interest rates will reverse the deepest earnings slump in three years.

The benchmark VN Index may extend its rally by another 65 percent through 2013 after climbing 24 percent since December, said Samsung Asset Management. Financial and real-estate companies in Asia’s 13th-largest equity market may lead gains, Eastspring Investments said. Dragon Capital, Vietnam’s biggest private stock investor, favors consumer and agricultural shares such as Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Co. and Petrovietnam Fertilizer & Chemical Joint Stock Co., the nation’s largest listed fertilizer maker.