A gas tank operated by PetroVietnam Gas Corporation's southern member firm. The company shares gained 1.1 per cent on Thursday morning. — Photo pvn.vn

Vietnamese shares increased on Thursday morning, carried by higher oil prices that boosted energy and petroleum companies.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange edged up 0.20 per cent to end at 989.78 points.

The VN-Index rose total 0.43 per cent in the previous two trading days.

More than 78 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VND1.63 trillion (US$70 million).

Market sentiment was bolstered by the gains of oil prices on Wednesday.

The energy and mining sector index gained 1.1 per cent, data on vietstock.vn showed.

The two largest energy firms on the southern bourse PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services (PVD) advanced 1.1 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.

The retail and technology sectors also moved forward.

Digital retailer Mobile World (MWG) and auto dealer Haxaco (HAX) were up 2.5 per cent each, while tech group FPT (FPT) rose nearly 2 per cent.

On the opposite side, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, logistics and transportation, and rubber were among the sectors that weighed on the market.

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index inched down 0.01 per cent to close at 104.13 points.

The northern market index fell 0.34 per cent on Wednesday.

More than 12 million shares were traded on the northern bourse, worth VND130 billion.

The afternoon trading session starts at 1pm. — VNS