HANOI, June 30 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories.

FINANCIAL NEWS:

TUOI TRE

-- The State Securities Commission said companies raised 5.36 trillion dong ($301 million) on the stock markets during the first half of this year, barely 20 percent of the total funds raised in the same period last year.

THANH NIEN

-- Vietcombank's <VCB.HM> listing of only 9.8 percent of its shares on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange <.VNI> instead of the minimum 20 percent requirement that public companies must meet to get listing approval could set a bad precedent, indicating control will remain with the state shareholder over the public, industry experts said.

SAIGON GIAI PHONG

-- Gold prices on both international and domestic markets have trended higher recently, prompting banks and gold trading companies to open new transaction points.

ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

NHAN DAN

-- Vietnam consumed an estimated 1.9 million tonnes of construction steel in the first six month of this year, a rise of 3 percent from the same period last year, which has helped the production of steel sheets and steel billets, the Vietnam Steel Association said.

HANOI MOI

-- The economy in the capital, Hanoi, grew 3.6 percent in the first half of this year from the same period last year, the lowest since 11.2 percent in the first half of 2006.

SAIGON GIAI PHONG

-- While Vietnam has so far detected 123 people infected with the H1N1 flu virus, the disease has yet to spread in the community and no fatal cases have been reported, Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan said.

THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- Annual inflation this year is expected to reach 7.51 percent, the National Centre for Socio-Economic Forecasts and Information said. (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom)

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