Shares inched higher on Thursday morning, boosted by some bargain-hunting demand.

The VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) rose 5.46 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 1,149.08 points.

The market's breadth returned to a positive zone with 211 stocks increasing, while 96 declined.

Liquidity, however, fell over the previous session. Of which, matching value on the southern bourse dropped 12 per cent to over VND3.6 trillion (US$154.1 million).

The index reversed recent losses thanks to some bottom purchasing activities after the benchmark broke below the support level of 1,150 points yesterday.

The VN30-Index, tracking 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, also recovered in the morning trade, up 6.53 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 1,167.19 points.

Stocks in oil, manufacturing and banking industries helped lift the market's sentiment this morning. Accordingly, PV GAS led the trend with a gain of 3.56 per cent, followed by Vinamilk (VNM) up 1.95 per cent, Masan Group (MSN) up 1.86 per cent and BIDV (BID) up 1.19 per cent.

Other pillar stocks supporting the bullish trend were VPBank (VPB), Vincom Retail (VRE), FPT Corporation (FPT), Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR).

However, gains were capped by persistent selling force that weighed on the market in recent sessions. Vingroup (VIC) posted the biggest losses this morning, down nearly 4.2 per cent.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also bounced back, up 1.5 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 253.85 points. VNS