Shares rose slightly on Friday morning with weak trading liquidity as investors chose to stand by ahead of Tet holiday. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

Shares rose slightly on both local exchanges on Friday morning with low market trading liquidity as investors tended to preserve their money ahead of the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange inched up 0.1 per cent to close at 687.52 points. The southern market index ended slightly down on Thursday.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange gained 0.2 per cent to end at 83.46 points. The northern market index dropped the same amount in the previous session.

Market trading liquidity was very low with more than 61.7 million shares being traded on the two local bourses, worth VND1.12 trillion (US$49.84 million).

Bank stocks retreated after lifting the markets on Thursday. Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) and Vietcombank (VCB) were the only two gainers on Friday morning while others declined, including Vietinbank (CTG), Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID) and MBBank (MBB).

Among insurance-finance stocks, Bao Viet Holdings (BVH) and Viet Nam National Reinsurance Corp (VNR) gained 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively, helping boost the market despite a strong fall in BIDV Insurance Corp (BIC) and Bao Minh Insurance Corp (BMI).

Other large-cap stocks were positive, such as brewer Sabeco (SAB), Faros Construction Corp (ROS) and property developer Vingroup (VIC). — VNS