The stock market inched higher in the last minutes of Monday morning trading, boosted by gains in some large-cap stocks.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose slightly 0.85 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 1,505.85 points.

The index opened the session on a positive note, then reversed course, down 1.09 points, on the strong selling force of many pillar stocks. However, the benchmark ended the morning higher as rallies in some blue-chip stocks overweighed selling pressure.

The market breadth was positive, with 252 stocks climbing, while 202 declined. Liquidity remained at a high level as more than 579.4 million shares were traded on HoSE, worth over VND18.8 trillion (US$824.4 million).

Gains in some large-cap stocks drove the index's uptrend. The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks in market capitalisation on the southern bourse, edged higher despite there being more stocks decreasing.

The VN30-Index increased by 1.91 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 1,524.4 points. In the VN30 basket, ten stocks jumped, while 19 slid, and one ended flat.

VPBank (VPB) led the rally, up 2.67 per cent. It was followed by Techcombank (TCB), Masan Group (MSN), Development Investment Construction JSC (DIG) and SSI Securities Corporation (SSI), all up by 1.07 to 3.41 per cent.

However, selling forces still lingered, with many big stocks recording significant losses, such as Vingroup (VIC) down 1.14 per cent, PV Gas (GAS) down 1.41 per cent, and Vietcombank (VCB) down 0.58 per cent.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also extended gains, up 1.83 points or 0.41 per cent, to 451.14 points. VNS