The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) rose 0.07 per cent to close at 925.53 points on Monday after falling in the morning.

The benchmark gained 2.67 per cent in total last week.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) lost 0.21 points to settle at 105.54 points.

The northern market index jumped total 3.89 per cent the previous week.

The two indices both fell in the morning, but the VN-Index bounced back in the afternoon driven by increased buying demand from foreigners. Foreign traders were net buyers of VND150.19 billion (US$6.4 million) on the HOSE and VND3.09 billion on the HNX.

Trading liquidity was low with nearly 171.4 million shares being traded on the two exchanges, worth nearly VND3.6 trillion.

The market was also pulled up by the rally of large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket.

The VN30 Index, which tracks the movement of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation, was up 0.15 per cent to 904.83 points.

Data from the business and finance news site vietstock.vn showed that nine out of twenty stock groups rallied on Monday. Sectors with the best performances were oil and gas, real estate, banking and construction materials.

The Bank For Investment And Development of Vietnam (BID), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PVD) and Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (PLX) all gained sharply.

In addition, large cap stocks such as Vincom Retail (VRE), brewery Sabeco (SAB), FLC Faros Construction Joint Stock Company (ROS) and Saigon Securities Incorporation (SSI) also rose, contributing to the rally at the end of the session.

Conversely, blue-chips like dairy firm Vinamilk (VNM), real estate developer Novaland (NVL), Mobile World Group (MWG) and insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) were hit strongly, putting pressure on the overall market.

According to Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC), buying demand easily met supply on Monday, resulting in the reversion of the index and indicating investors’ optimism and expectations about the market’s recovery in the short term.

BVSC said the VN-Index was predicted to keep rising in the next sessions. The next target for the index is forecast at the 940-950 point range in the short term.

The Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) index edged down 0.37 per cent to finish at 51.55 points. The unlisted market index gained 0.85 per cent to finish at 51.74 points in the previous session. — VNS