The stock market reversed yesterday's course to inch higher on Tuesday morning, but the gains were capped by losses in some large-cap stocks.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) rose 0.21 per cent, or nearly 3 points, to 1,414.1 points. However the market's breadth was still negative as 213 stocks fell, while 145 stocks increased.

The liquidity was lower than yesterday's morning trade with more than 367.5 million shares traded on HoSE, worth over VND12.8 trillion (US$558.4 million).

The market's recovery was mainly thanks to gains in pillar stocks. The VN30-Index, tracking 30 biggest stocks in market capitalisation on the southern bourse, climbed 0.03 per cent to 1,557.9 points.

Of the VN30 basket, 17 stocks rose while 13 stocks declined.

Most sectors contributed to the morning's rally with JSC Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID) leading the trend, up 2.89 per cent.

It was followed by PetroVietnam Gas JSC (PVGas, GAS), Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) and No Va Land Investment Group Corporation (Novaland, NVL). These stocks all posted gains of more than 1.6 per cent.

However with the persistence of selling pressure, some big stocks still edged down. Of which, Vingroup JSC (VIC) reported the biggest losses in the morning session, down 0.61 per cent.

Other stocks with big losses were Vinhomes JSC (VHM) and Techcombank (TCB). The bank shares rose the most yesterday, up more than 6.8 per cent.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also bounced back this morning, up 0.51 per cent to 329.44 points on the higher HNX30-Index.

The HNX-based 30 biggest stocks tracker climbed 0.36 per cent to 519.71 points. VNS