The market finished higher on Thursday as some bargain-hunting efforts lifted sentiment.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose 4.89 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 1,245.66 points. The recovery ended the index’s two-day slide.

The market’s breadth remained in the negative territory with more stocks declining. Liquidity was also lower, as matching value on the southern bourse dropped by 27 per cent over the previous session to nearly VND9.8 trillion (US$414.1 million), equivalent to a matching value of 386 million shares.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks on HoSE, also posted a gain of 1.94 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 1,262.82 points.

In the VN30 basket, 13 stocks edged up, while 13 fell and four stayed unchanged.

The index’s reversal was supported by large-cap stocks, mostly in appealing sectors like real estate or banking. Of which, Becamex (BCM) led the bullish trend with a gain of 7 per cent - the maximum intra-day rise. Other stocks supporting the trend included Vietcombank (VCB), Novaland (NVL) and Eximbank (EIB), up at least 1.15 per cent.

Vinhomes (VHM), Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR), Vingroup (VIC) and Vinamilk (VNM) also witnessed positive performance.

However, gains were capped by persistent selling pressure. Of which BIDV (BID) posted the biggest loss, down more than 2 per cent, followed by other big names like PV Gas (GAS), MBBank (MBB) and Techcombank (TCB).

The HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) also rose on Thursday, after falling for three straight sessions.

During the session, more than 52.2 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth over VND1.16 trillion.

Foreign investors were net sellers on HoSE with a net value of VND332.93 billion, while they net bought a value of VND8.52 billion on HNX. — VNS