An investor executes trading orders on her laptop at SSI Securities Incorporation (SSI). SSI shares jumped 4.1 per cent on Thursday morning. — Photo thoibaotaichinhvietnam.vn

Local shares advanced on Thursday morning, driven by securities firms and material producers.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange added 0.77 per cent to 912.19 points.

The VN-Index inched up 0.14 per cent on Wednesday.

Securities stocks made big gains in the morning session to lift the market.

The sector index jumped 4.8 per cent, according to vietstock.vn.

Major gainers in the brokerage sector included SSI Securities (SSI), HCM City Securities (HCM), VietCapital Securities (VCI), VNDirect Securities (VND), and FPT Securities (FTS).

SSI and HCM jumped 4.1 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively. The two stocks were also among the six most active stocks on the market.

In the morning session, more than eight million SSI shares and nearly 4.6 million HCM shares were traded on the southern bourse.

Material companies also made their ways up, led by steel producers Hoa Phat (HPG) and Hoa Sen (HSG).

The industry rose 2.6 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

HPG increased by 2.8 per cent and HSG leaped 3.2 per cent.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index was up 0.56 per cent to 133.68 points.

The northern market index soared 0.91 per cent on Wednesday.

More than 229 million shares were traded on the two exchanges, worth VND4.19 trillion (US$181.3 million).

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS