Workers check products at a warehouse of Hòa Phát Group. Shares of the leading steel producer jumped nearly 2.6 per cent on Tuesday, supporting the market's recovery. — Photo hoaphat.com.vn

Benchmark indices inched higher on Tuesday as the improvement of market sentiment lifted large-cap stocks, but liquidity remained at low levels.

The VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) increased nine points, or 0.78 per cent, to 1,163.12 points. The index had lost slightly more than eight points in the last two sessions.

On the southern exchange, the market’s breadth was positive, as 221 stocks were increasing while 88 tickers declined.

However, liquidity remained at a low level of just over VNĐ13.1 trillion (US$535 million). This was equal to a trading volume of nearly 611.4 million.

The 30 biggest stocks on the HoSE, VN30-Index also gained 8.89 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 1,170.19 points. Up to 21 stocks in the VN30 basket performed positively, while four dipped and five ended flat.

The HNX-Index on the Hà Nội Stock Exchange (HNX) also ended its two-losing day. The index finished Tuesday at 229.5 points, up 1.95 points, or 0.86 per cent.

During the session, investors poured nearly VNĐ1.1 trillion into the northern bourse, equivalent to a trading volume of more than 63 million shares.

A soaring demand force in the last trading minutes helped pull the market, as it still opened the morning trade on a negative note.

Most sectors saw gains today, especially steel stocks. Shares of three steel manufacturers on the market posted strong rallies, of which Hòa Phát Group (HPG) increased by 2.58 per cent, Hoa Sen Group (HSG) surged 6.02 per cent and Nam Kim Group (NKG) even hit the ceiling price of 7 per cent.

However, the leader of the market’s uptrend was a property developer, Vinhomes (VHM). VHM shares jumped 2.52 per cent.

Other realty stocks contributing to the bullish sentiment were DIC Group (DIG), Novaland (NVL), Đất Xanh Group (DXG), Kinh Bắc City Group (KBC), Hồ Chí Minh City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII), CEO Group (CEO) and Phát Đạt Real Estate Development JSC (PDR). All the stocks rose at least 1.4 per cent.

Also supporting the uptrend, securities, manufacturing and retail industries performed well with many ticker symbols up strongly, such as Masan Group (MSN) climbed 2.29 per cent, Đức Giang Chemicals (DGC) soared 2.19 per cent, SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) was up 1.52 per cent, and Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) increased 3.26 per cent.

Foreign investors continued to inject money into the market as they net bought a value of VNĐ140.9 billion. In particular, they net bought a net value of VNĐ148.6 billion on HoSE but net sold a value of VNĐ7.68 billion on HNX. — VNS