The benchmark VN Index went up 0.63 per cent to close at 958.17 points on Thursday morning. — Photo tapchitaichinh.vn

Shares continued to advance on Thursday morning, lifted by the financial-banking sector.

The benchmark VN Index went up 0.63 per cent to close at 958.17 points.

The southern market index had grown total 6.9 per cent in the previous eight sessions.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange gained 0.64 per cent to end at 114.68 points.

The northern market index rose 2.2 per cent on Wednesday.

More than 176.5 million shares were traded on both local exchanges, worth roughly VND3.9 trillion (US$173.3 million).

The stock market was dominated by 226 gaining stocks, against 191 declining ones, while 116 other stocks remained unchanged.

Financial-banking stocks were the major boost for the stock market, with seven of the 10 bank stocks advancing.

Among the listed banks that saw share prices increase were MBBank (MBB), Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and VPBank (VPB).

Shares of securities firms also performed well, including BIDV Securities (BSI), Viet Dragon Securities (VDS), Sai Gon-Ha Noi Securities (SHS) and Viet Capital Securities (VCI).

Food and beverage shares extended growth, including brewers, Sabeco (SAB) and Habeco (BHN), and dairy firm, Vinamilk (VNM).

The afternoon trade session starts at 1pm. – VNS