Vietnamese markets rose slightly on Thursday, supported by gains in construction and residential real estate stock groups.
The market benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) increased 0.09 per cent, to finish the trading day at 1,506.79 points.
The index had increased 0.29 per cent, to finish Wednesday at 1,505.38 points.
The market breadth was negative as 226 stocks declined while 209 rose and 64 ended flat.
Nearly 680.3 million shares were traded on the southern market, worth VND22 trillion (US$970 million).
Construction stocks performed well in the afternoon trading session, especially those listed on HOSE, with prominent gainers such as COMA 18 Joint Stock Company (CIG), Dat Phuong Joint Stock Company (DPG), Mien Dong Joint Stock Company (MDG), Post & Telecommunications Investment And Construction JSC (PTC) and Louis Capital JSC (TGG).
The residential real estate group witnessed differences in prices. Some attracted strong cash flow and supported the overall market such as C.E.O Group JSC (CEO), Development Investment Construction Corporation (DIG), Long Giang Investment & Urban Development JSC (LGL), Foreign Trade Development & Investment Corporation of HCMC (FDC), NBB Investment Corporation (NBB) and IDJ Vietnam Investment JSC (IDJ).
On the other side, some other stocks still suffered selling pressure such as Vingroup (VIC), Vinhomes (VHM), Novaland (NVL), Dat Xanh Group (DXG), Nam Long Group (NLG), Khang Dien Houee (KDH) and Phat Dat Real Estate (PDR).
The iron and steel group was hit by profit-taking pressure after two gaining sessions. Two steel giants Hoa Phat Group (HPG) and Hoa Sen Group (HSG) were sold strongly and ended the session lower. HPG was even strongly net-sold by foreign investors. Meanwhile, Nam Kim Group (NKG), Vietnam – Italy Steel Joint Stock Company (VIS) and a few other small-caps kept gaining momentum.
Eighteen out of 25 sector indices on the market made gains, including wholesale, IT, retail, healthcare, agriculture, rubber production, food and beverage, seafood production and construction materials.
On the other side, losers included insurance, real estate, securities, construction and logistics.
The 30 biggest stocks tracker, VN30-Index, lost 0.22 per cent to finish at 1,548.95 points.
Of the VN30 basket, 11 stocks increased while 16 decreased.
Meanwhile, on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX), the HNX-Index gained 0.95 per cent to close at 428.24 points.
The northern market index had gained 1.51 per cent to close Tuesday at 424.19 points.
During the session, more than 55.3 million shares were traded on HNX, worth VND1.7 trillion. — VNS