Vietnamese shares opened the third quarter of 2019 on a positive note along with good news from both domestic and global economies.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange rose 1.00 per cent to close Monday morning at 959.42 points.

The VN-Index gained 0.72 per cent on Friday but fell a total of 1 per cent last week.

Nearly 85.3 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND1.72 trillion (US$74 million).

China and the US agreed on Saturday to restart talks to ease trade tensions.

On Sunday, Viet Nam and the European Union officially signed bilateral trade and investment protection deals, paving the way for Vietnamese exports to enjoy very low tariffs in coming years.

The news boosted market sentiment and lifted stocks of companies that would benefit from the improvement of the trade environment.

Those sectors include agriculture, textiles and garments and wood processing and production.

Oil, gas and petroleum stocks also performed well following the increases of crude prices.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged up 0.37 per cent to end at 103.89 points.

The northern market index advanced 0.53 per cent on Friday but finished last week down 1.28 per cent.

More than 15.5 million were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND193 billion.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS