Benchmark indices extended gains on Tuesday, but sell-offs in some large-cap stocks and lower liquidity pared the rally trend.
The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) ended slightly higher at 1,053.77 points, an increase of 0.33 points, or 0.03 per cent. It posted the biggest daily rise in nearly a month on Monday.
The breadth of the market was still in the positive zone with winners outnumbering losers on the southern bourse.
However, liquidity decreased over the previous session, with the trading value and volume both down 14 per cent to VND9.3 trillion (US$398 million) and 564.4 million shares.
The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, dropped 0.05 points to 1,049.67 points. In the VN30 basket, 13 stocks increased, while 15 went down and two ticker symbols finished flat.
Data compiled by a financial website, vietstock.vn, showed that BIDV (BID), PV Gas (PVG), Hoa Phat Group (HPG), Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corporation (KBC), and Vinamilk (VNM) were the market's pillar stocks. The stocks gained in a range of 0.43-5.36 per cent.
Also supporting the bullish trend, LienVietPostBank (LPB), Vietinbank (CTG), TPBank (TPB), and FPT Corporation (FPT) performed well on Tuesday.
But persistent selling force weighed on some pillar stocks, capping the rally of the benchmark index.
Vietcombank (VCB) witnessed the biggest losses, down 0.75 per cent in market capitalisation. The bank's shares jumped nearly 3.6 per cent on Monday, being the biggest contributor to the uptrend.
It was followed by property developer Vingroup (VIC), Sabeco (SAB), and Masan Group (MSN).
The market showed positive signs of approaching the end of the accumulative cycle after trading sideways in the last six months, said analysts from the Saigon-Hanoi Securities JSC.
"In the short-term, if the bullish trend is extended, the VN-Index is likely to head toward the closest resistance zone of 1,070 - 1,075 points," SHS said.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also finished higher on Tuesday, up 1.03 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 211.95 points.
Investors poured more than VND1.2 trillion into the northern exchange, equal to a trading volume of 81.1 million shares.
Meanwhile, foreign investors continued to withdraw from the market as they net sold about VND254.4 billion on both main exchanges. Specifically, they net sold a value of nearly VND230 billion on HoSE and VND24.51 billion on HNX. — VNS