On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose 0.55 per cent, to 1,176.53 points. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Shares extended gains on Thursday morning thanks to the growth of banking and securities stocks.

On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), the VN-Index rose 0.55 per cent, to 1,176.53 points.

The market breadth was neutral with 205 stocks dropping, while 248 stocks increased.

The gains were due to the growth of pillar stocks. The 30 large-cap tracker VN30-Index increased 0.95 per cent, to 1,183.35 points. Twenty-four of 30 large-cap stocks gained, while only 3 decreased.

During the morning session, nearly 475 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth over VNĐ11.2 trillion (US$487 million).

The market was strongly supported by banking and securities stocks.

The banking sector was boosted by Vietcombank (VCB), Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BID) and Techcombank (TCB).

Securities shares were still impressive with strong gains seen in SSI Securities (SSI), HCM City Securities (HCM), Vietinbank Securities (CTS), Agribank Securities (AGR) and BIDV Securities (BSI).

On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index also gained 2.12 per cent to reach 272.76 points. — VNS