At an ACB bank transaction office, the bank's stock led the entire market on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo

The stock market closed Friday with a slight gain, marking its fourth consecutive session of increases, while foreign investors scaled back their net selling.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) rose by 0.77 points, or 0.06 per cent, to close at 1,272.04 points.

The market's breadth was negative, as 159 decliners outnumbered 153 gainers. Liquidity on the southern bourse improved significantly, reaching VNĐ21.8 trillion (US$875.2 million), with a trading volume of 898.8 million shares.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation on HoSE, gained 7.59 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 1,326 points. Sixteen stocks in the VN30 basket advanced, eleven declined, and three remained flat.

Key stocks in the banking sector led the market's uptrend.

According to data from the financial website vietstock.vn, the Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) was the biggest gainer, leading in market capitalisation. Shares of the lender rose by 3.43 per cent, contributing nearly 0.96 points to the VN-Index.

Hòa Phát Group JSC (HPG) followed with its shares rising by 1.58 per cent, while Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TCB) increased by 1.51 per cent, and Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MBB) gained 1.43 per cent.

Meanwhile, some large-cap stocks faced slight selling pressure, limiting the market's gains. The Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (VCB) fell by 0.98 per cent, Vingroup Joint Stock Company (VIC) dropped by 1.4 per cent, and Vinhomes JSC (VHM) declined by 0.91 per cent.

According to analysts from Việt Dragon Securities, the market faced selling pressure as it tested the 1,280-point level, cooling down significantly. Liquidity increased compared to the previous session, indicating rising supply as the market approached the resistance zone. This was also influenced by the rebalancing activities of ETFs. Currently, the 20-day moving average (MA20) around 1,270 points is providing support. The market is expected to find support at this level and recover to test the 1,280–1,290 point resistance zone again. Investors may remain hopeful for market recovery, but should still consider using this rebound to restructure portfolios and mitigate risk.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also ended higher on Friday, rising by 0.23 per cent to 234.3 points.

During the session, more than VNĐ1.4 trillion worth of shares, equivalent to a trading volume of over 71 million shares, were traded on the northern market.

Conversely, foreign investors returned to their net selling trend, offloading over VNĐ303 billion on HoSE. — VNS