Shares rebounded on Wednesday as the risk-averse mood eased and foreign investors came back to the market.
The market's benchmark VN-Index on the southern bourse, Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), snapped a three-day losing streak to end higher at 1,040.8 points. It lost 5.95 points, or 0.57 per cent, over the previous session.
The breadth of the market returned to a postive zone, as gainers surpassed decliners on HoSE. Liquidity also improved, with both trading volume and value up 7 per cent and 21.6 per cent, respectively, to nearly 576.8 million shares and VND11.43 trillion (US$487 million).
The index's recovery was driven by gains in large-cap stocks, especially in steel and banking sectors. The VN30-Index, tracking the 30 biggest stocks on the southern bourse, increased by 8.2 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 1,045.24 points.
In the VN30 basket, 20 stocks inched higher while six finished low and four stocks stayed unchanged.
Data compiled by a financial website vietstock.vn showed that Hoa Phat Group (HPG) was the biggest gainer on Wednesday, leading the bull market. The steel producer's shares soared more than 4.5 per cent.
HPG shares jumped for the second day in a row after the company reported a profit after tax of VND383 billion, down 95 per cent year-on-year but escaping losses recorded in the last two quarters.
Other big names contributing to the rallies were Vietcombank (VCB), Techcombank (TCB), BIDV (BID), Lien Viet Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank (LPB), PV GAS (GAS), Vinamilk (VNM). All these ticker symbols climbed at least 1.25 per cent on Wednesday, with LPB even logging the maximum daily rise of 7 per cent.
However, gains were capped due to lingering selling pressure. The property developer duo Vinhomes (VHM) and Vingroup (VIC) experienced great losses of 4.38 per cent and 1.14 per cent, respectively.
On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also bounced back after losing for two straight days. It declined by 1.15 points, or 0.56 per cent, to close Wednesday at 205.84 points.
During the session, 67.4 million shares were traded on the northern exchange, worth nearly VND955 billion.
Foreign investors also returned to the market as they net bought VND33.26 billion. Of which, they net bought VND47.37 billion on HoSE while net sold a value of VND14.11 billion on HNX. — VNS